Konoha's Mistake
by blade4228
Summary: At the age of five Naruto is badly beaten and left for dead. Where Tsunade comes across him and raise him as her own. Will Naruto still dream of being Hokage or has that changed?
1. Chapter 1: Farewell to a hero revised

**Konoha's Mistake**

By Blade4228

Summary: At the age of five Naruto is badly beaten and left for dead. Where Tsunade comes across him and raise him as her own. Will Naruto still dream of being Hokage or has that changed?

"Speech"

'_Thoughts'_

**Demon/Summon speech**

_**Demon/Summon thoughts**_

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or any of the characters created by Kishimoto

()

Chapter 1: Farewell to a hero. (Revised)

A cool refreshing breeze blew through the village of Konoha on this starless night. But it was not as dark as one would think for the night sky was brilliantly light with flashes of light and the burning multicolored remains of embers that slowly floated to the ground. This spectacle came from the fireworks that were set off to celebrate the demise of the Kyuubi that was defeated by The Yondaime Hokage five years ago. The entire village was decorated in streamers as well as having food and activity stands, which ranged from a simple fish catch game to a more advanced targeting game meant for the shinobi of the village, lined the dusty streets. To the casual observer it seemed like the whole village was into the celebration.

But if one would take a closer look at the village they would see that there was one boy who wasn't in a celebratory mood, in fact he was downright terrified every time this day rolled around. The poor boy had yellow uncombed hair that sprouted out in all directions and wore an extremely bright orange jumpsuit. This boy's name was Uzumaki Naruto and he was currently in fear for his life as he fled from a group of angry shinobi.

When Naruto landed on a nearby rooftop he let his fear get the best of him and looked over his shoulder to see how close his pursuers were. Unfortunately for him this hesitation was all one of them needed. In a swift and fluid motion this particular shinobi pulled out a kunai and flung it at Naruto just before he shouted "Die Demon!"

Naruto managed to duck his head at the last moment and dodge the kunai before he pushed himself harder than any five year old should have been able to and took off at an incredible speed. As the pursuers chased Naruto all over the disserted areas of the village, he brought his left hand up to a necklace that he had just gotten as a gift, and tightened his grip on it before he thought to himself. '_If only Anko-neechan was here, she would make them all go away.' _

Just as he finished that line of thought he suddenly felt an intense pain shot through his left leg. Since Naruto didn't want to break his stride he decided to just ignore the pain and continue on, but when he put his full weight on this leg the pain became too much and it gave out. The result of this sent him tumbling into the dark and spooky alleyway below. Naruto hit the ground with such force that you could hear his left leg bone snap. He screamed in pain before he looked down at his leg and saw that not only was his leg twisted in an unnatural position but that the cause of his tumble was a kunai that was still imbedded at least two inches into his calf muscle.

But before he had the chance to pull it out his pursuers had caught up with him. Despite the pain shooting through his leg Naruto managed to turn over on his stomach and tried to crawl away from the group. When the group saw the wounded boy they quickly descended on him like a pack of vultures, and delivered a hailstorm of punches and kicks, many of these attacks snapped more of Naruto's malnourished bones. As the group continued to beat the poor child one of them, a shinobi from the looks of his headband and standard chunin uniform, ripped the necklace off of Naruto's neck. He then haphazardly threw it into the darkness of the ally while he snarled "A demon doesn't need such things."

A few moments later another shinobi started to do hand-seals for a Katon jutsu, but before he could finish the last hand-seal the leader of the group put his hand on the man's shoulder as he said "Don't… if you do a jutsu here Hokage-sama or one of his ANBU will feel your chakra spike and come to investigate. We don't want to be caught… now do we?"

The man silently nodded his head in agreement, before the rest Naruto's attackers pulled out a wide variety of weapons, ranging from kunai to swords, and started to hack and slash at Naruto's flesh.

While this gruesome scene was going on more of his bones were broken in the process which eliciting a bloodcurdling scream before he looked up at his attackers. The only thing he saw however was a look of pure and utter hatred reflected in their eyes. When the pain and blood loss started to make Naruto feel disoriented and drowsy, but before all cognitive ability was lost to him he heard their leader bark out orders. "Now that he's dying we need to get rid of the body, so it can't be traced back to us."

The leader then pointed to two of his men and said "You two! Take this creature far from here, so it can't be found."

As the two men started to head towards Naruto the damage done to his body finally started to take its toll. With his body starting to shut down Naruto used every ounce of willpower he had left to focus his eyes and get one last good look at his attackers. That's when he noticed that they all had red eyes with comma like marks circling around the iris. With this final scene burned into his memory the world started to fade to nothingness but before he lost consciousness he thought to himself. _'What did I ever do to deserve this?'_

**(On the road to Tanzaku Town)**

Tsunade felt a shiver run down her spine as the cool night air blew past on the old dusty road surrounded by trees and bushes. Once the breeze had died down she looked up into the star filled sky and let out a sigh as she wished that she was already in town. She couldn't wait to relax in the hot springs while she drank some of her favorite sake before she hit the gambling halls and end this losing streak she's been on lately. She turned her gaze from the night sky to the long road ahead while she thought about what awaited her once she got to the casinos. _'I'm going to win so big this time. I can feel it! And then… and then I'll use all those winnings to buy even more of my precious Sake!'_

Her fantasy was short lived as her apprentice, Shizune, noticed two figures coming out of the bushes off to the side of the road, about fifty yards in front of them. Shizune immediately dropped into a defensive stance as she shouted "Who are you? And what are you doing over there?"

The two men froze in place before they turned to look at Tsunade and Shizune. Once they saw the two they cursed their bad luck before they disappeared in a puff of smoke. Tsunade's right eyebrow arced ever so slightly and she got a curios look on her face as she thought to herself _'Well that was… strange.'_

She soon forgot all about the two men when she heard a very weak moan coming from the bushes that the two men came from a few moments earlier. Letting her curiosity get the best of her she went over to investigate but when she pushed the bushes aside she froze on her spot and started to tremble.

"What's wrong Tsunade-sama?" asked Shizune as she was overcome with a deep sense of worry at Tsunade's reaction. But when she looked down to see what her mentor was staring at a look of horror spread across her face as she saw the battered and bloody body of a 5 year old boy. Her hands covered her mouth as she thought to herself_ 'Oh my god!'_ Her medical training kicked in moments later and she immediately ran over and began to check his condition.

However when Shizune turned the boy over Tsunade received another shock to her system, because this small child just happened to resemble someone that she cared deeply about a long ago. As she continued to stare at the boy's bloody and dirty face it caused only one thought to run through her head. _'H-He looks just like N-Nawaki.'_

As she continued to stare visions of her loved one flashed through her mind. She remembered his laughter, his bright vibrant smile and the deep love he held for his friends and family. But then her memories turned dark as images of his dead and mutilated body flashed before he eyes. A low groan broke Tsunade out of her thoughts but when she looked down she didn't see the injured five year old, instead she saw her brother Nawaki laying there dying at her feet. She shook her head from side to side to clear the vision from her mind while she thought to herself. _'No not again! I won't let it happen again!'_

A new resolve course through her veins as she found the courage to push aside her fear of blood and she quickly knelt down next to Shizune to begin to heal the badly beaten boy.

'_Tsunade-sama…'_ though a shell shocked Shizune as she never in her wildest dreams thought her sensei would be able to overcome her fear of blood. Pushing those thoughts to the back of her head for now, she turned all her attention towards helping Tsunade as they tried to save this child's life.

The two worked feverously to save the boy but it was starting to look bleak. That's when Tsunade noticed something odd. A dim red glow enveloped the damaged area's and seemed to help heal the boy at an accelerated rate, deciding to file this away for a later date she went back to saving this young boys life. After several hours Tsunade let out a sigh of relief as they had finally managed to heal all of his life threatening injuries.

Tsunade gently picked up the unconscious boy and shoved some of his blood soaked blonde hair out of his face before she turned to Shizune and said "With all the damage his body sustained… it's a miracle that he was able to live long enough for us to treat him."

"I completely agree Tsunade-sama. I still can't believe we were able stabilize him." replied Shizune as she looked at the boy in her masters arms.

After a moment of silence between the two women Tsunade grabbed the edge of her green coat and wiped some of the blood and dirt from the boy's face before she said "Let's hurry and find a hotel so he can get some rest."

Shizune silently nodded her head in agreement and both of them took off towards Tanzuku Town as fast as they could safely carry the sleeping boy. A short time later they entered the hotel room and noticed the plain white walls with an open kitchen and two doors in the back one leading to the bedroom while the other lead to the bathroom. Tsunade made a bee line for the bed room and put the boy down on the soft bed. After she quietly shut the bedroom door she turned to Shizune and whispered "Just who is that boy? There is no way he should have survived all those injuries."

"I know what you mean Tsunade-sama, I've never seen someone so severely injured before survive. It has to be a miracle." replied Shizune as she let a small smile spread across her face. This good feeling didn't last long however because once she noticed the concerned look on her Sensei's face she got a sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach. "What's wrong Tsunade-sama? We didn't miss anything did we?"

"No, no nothing like that. It's just… didn't you notice that even without our help his wounds were already healing at a faster than normal rate?" asked Tsunade as she brought her right hand up to her chin to ponder this further. _'It shouldn't have been possible for that boy's wounds to heal so fast… unless.'_

As realization dawned on Tsunade her apprentice Shizune opened the bedroom door a crack and glanced into the room to check on the boy. As she looked at his sleeping form she muttered "Now that you mention it yes. I did notice that his wounds were healing at an unusually fast rate. But where are you going with this Sensei?"

"It's just a theory mind you. But I think that he could be a Jinchuuriki." commented Tsunade as she got a sad look on her face. "That would also explain why he was beaten to within an inch of his life, and then left for dead." But before they could continue their conversation further they heard a noise coming from the next room, and rushed in to check on the boy.

At that very same moment Naruto slowly opened his eyes and let out a low groan of pain as he started to look around the room. The first thing he noticed was that it was a simple white room, with cheap paint on the walls, and an old cracked mirror hanging over a simple wooded dresser. Then as he laid eyes on the old oak door it suddenly swung open and two ladies rushed into the room. The trauma of Naruto's near death experience became very apparent when his first reaction was to jump out of the bed, run to the nearest corner of the room, curled up into a ball, and screamed at the top of his lungs "Don't hurt me!"

Tsunade and Shizune both cringed at the sheer terror and panic in the boy's voice. Tsunade decided to implement a different tactic and cautiously made her way over to him while she tried to calm the poor boy down. "Shhh….. Just calm down. No one here is going to hurt you. We're the medics that made all your injuries go away. My name is Tsunade, and this lady here is my apprentice Shizune. Now that you know our names could you please tell us yours?"

Naruto just sat there in shock; he just couldn't believe that this lady didn't know who he was. Everybody knew who he was and they all hated him for it. But out of all the questions swimming around inside his head, there was one that kept coming to the forefront: _'Why is this lady being so nice to me?' _After a few moments of silent contemplation he decided to go for broke and answer her question. Naruto lifted his head above his knees and in a soft and quiet voice muttered "I-I'm Uzumaki Naruto."

'The_ Kyuubi vessel! Sarutobi-sensei… how could you let this happen to him?' _Tsunade thought to herself as an overwhelming sadness crept into her heart as her mind pictured the kind of life he must have lead up until know.

When he noticed that the pair looked at him with sadness and sorrow instead of the usual fear and hatred the question that had been gnawing at his mind earlier became vocalized. "How come you don't know me? Everyone knows me…" He then lowered his head as a sense of doom and gloom washed over him before he whispered "And hates me."

Tsunade's expression darkened at his words and she promised herself that one day she'd find the ones responsible for Naruto's current mental state and make them pay. Shoving such dark thoughts to the back of her mind she got a warm smile and tried to cheer up the poor boy. "Not everyone hates you Naruto. While I can't speak for that village, I can say that Shizune and myself don't hate you."

"R-Really?" Naruto whispered hoping against hope that Tsunade was speaking the truth.

Her smile took on an even warmer glow than before as she ruffled his hair while she said "Yup."

Naruto just sat there in disbelief unable to fully comprehend what he had just been told. Aside from old man Hokage, Anko, and Teuchi and Ayame from the Ichiraku Ramen stand everyone else hated him. _'Man I wish the old man was here. He'd know if I could trust this lady.'_ Naruto thought to himself as he suddenly realized that aside from the two ladies there wasn't anyone else in the room.

That's when he quickly scanned the room but couldn't find any trace of the aged Hokage. He started to get really scared as he franticly searched the room again for any sign of him. When no trace could be found of even a visit Naruto started to panic as he spouted out question after question. "Where is he? Where's old man hokage? Did something happen to him? Why hasn't he come yet? He always comes to visit me when I get hurt!"

That last statement hit Tsunade harder than she thought it would, and as dark emotions started to fill her mind a sour look spread across her face before she thought to herself. _'He's been hurt like this before? Damn it Sarutobi-sensei! When I get my hands on you…' _

Taking a few moments to purge those dark thoughts from her mind Tsunade took a deep breath and decided to tell Naruto the truth. "Listen Naruto there's no easy way to tell you this. So I'll just come out and say it. You're not in Konoha anymore." She paused for a moment to let it sink in but when she saw the confused look on Naruto's face she bit her lower lip in worry before she finished what she was going to say "You're in a town called Tanzaku Naruto. We found you on the side of the road and brought you here."

Naruto's reaction was unexpected to say the least, he just had a blank expression on his face and with a voice devoid of all emotion he muttered "So they throw me out, huh? I guess they finally decided to throw out their trash." The torrent of emotions Naruto had bottled up over the years finally reached their limit and tears started well up in his eyes threatening to burst forth at any moment.

Tsunade's long dormant maternal instincts started to kick in as she grabbed Naruto and pull him into a hug. She then rocked him back and forth in an attempt to ease his pain. Not use to such close contact Naruto's muscles tightened ready to escape at a moment's notice, but once he realized that there was no malicious intentions he quickly relaxed into the warm and comforting embrace. The dam finally broke for Naruto and all of his pent up emotions came to the surface as he buried his face into Tsunade's shoulder and balled his eyes out.

This outpouring of such raw emotion tugged at the two Konouchi's heart strings, and Tsunade found herself pulling him into an even tighter embrace as she did her best to ease the boy's pain. "There, there it's going to be alright. Don't let their words get to you Naruto. Because you're not trash, and don't you dare think otherwise got it? You're far better than that"

"H-How would you know?" sniffled Naruto as he lifted his head and looked at Tsunade with an almost pleading look in his eyes hoping for a thread of truth in her words.

"Because…" Tsunade then got a nice warm smile on her face and put her hand on top of his head before she tousled his hair and said "I know just how special you really are."

Those kind words stuck a cord with Naruto. Never before had anyone said he was special and this brought forth an emotion he had very little experience with, happiness. As a new wave of tears streamed down his face he tightened his grip on Tsunade's shirt before he buried his face once again into her shoulder and cried tears of joy. Tsunade gently placed her hand on the back of his head as she continued to rock him back and forth until he finally fell asleep. A faint smile spread across her lips as she ran her fingertips through the young boy's hair and after a few moments of contemplation she came to a decision that would in time rock the very foundation of Konoha.

"Shizune. I'm…" Tsunade stopped for a moment and looked down at the boy, before her eyes reflected a resolve that was thought to have died in her long ago. "I'm taking Naruto with us."

"Are you serious Tsunade-sama?" balked Shizune as she just stared at her mentor unable to wrap her mind around what she just heard. Soon the turmoil within her mind became vocalized. "In all the years I've known you. You've never done anything like this before. So why start now?"

A vein started to throb on Tsunade's forehead as she stopped playing with Naruto's hair and taking great care not to wake the boy she said "Are you saying that we should just throw him back out there! Just leave him so those jackals can do this again!"

When Naruto stirred Tsunade was afraid that she'd woken him. But once he just nuzzled closer to her and started to snore she let out a sigh relieved that she hadn't. With that concern out of the way she turned back towards Shizune and glared at her expecting an answer.

"O-Of course not! I would ever what him to go through that again Tsunade-sama. It's just…" Shizune trailed off unsure of how to put her feelings into words but with another harsh glare from her mentor she finally said "I'm surprised that you want to take him with us. After what happened to Uncle Dan and Nawaki… I never thought you'd open your heart up like this again."

"It's because of Nawaki that I'm doing this…" Tsunade mumbled more to herself than Shizune as she once again looked down at the child sleeping in her lap. When Shizune didn't say anything for several seconds Tsuande looked up at her apprentice only to see her friend's face contorted in confusion. After she let out a deep sigh she explained further. "When he was injured out there, at first I didn't see Naruto lying in that ditch… I saw Nawaki."

Shizune brought her hands to her mouth and let out a small gasp but before she could say anything Tsunade continued: "That's what let me get over my fear and help you save him. I'm not sure if it was Nawaki's spirit guiding me or not. But…" Tsunade paused for a moment to collect her thoughts. "I do know I feel a connection to this little guy, and I think Nawaki would want me to look after and protect him."

"…And I think Uncle Dan would want that too" Shizune added more as an afterthought than anything else. She then got a meek smile on her face and as she gave a quick nod of agreement she thought to herself. _'Well I guess it won't be so bad. After all…, I've always wanted a little brother'_

With both ladies in agreement a warm smile spread across Tsunade's face. "Then it's been decided. Naru-chan is now part of the Senju Clan!"

"Naru-chan?" muttered Shizune with her right eyebrow arced ever so slightly as she gave her mentor a questioning look.

A tinge of pink spread across Tsunade's cheeks as an emotion long thought lost flooded her system but before it could be used against her she decided to quickly change the subject. "Anyway since Naru-chan is going to come with us. I think it's time he learned how to defend himself. Because I don't want anything like this to ever happen to him again. Don't you agree Shizune?"

"Oh absolutely Tsunade-sama." replied Shizune as she let her lips curl into a warm smile thinking about all the things the two of them couple teach the young shinobi to be..

Tsunade rain her fingers through Naruto's hair one more time before she gently laid her hand on his head. Naruto's reaction to this was to snuggle up even closer to her and left out a sigh of contentment. Tsunade's lips curled into a smile as she looked down at the sleeping blonde and thought to herself _'Well Naru-chan, I wonder how you'll react when you find out that your now part of a family.'_

**(Hokage Tower the following day)**

The early morning rays of sunshine came through the window of the Hokage's office accentuating the finely crafted oak desk that the Sandaime Hokage was currently working at, its high finish and ornate design was clearly designed to instill a sense of power and prestige to anyone lucky enough to lay their eyes on it. After he stamped his approval on the document in front of him, he looked over at the huge pile of paperwork that he had yet to complete before he let out an aggravated sign of frustration. He really hated all the backlog of paperwork that was created by his participation in the Kyuubi Festival the night before. As it approached midday Sarutobi had finally started to catch up with all his work and that's when he noticed that Naruto had yet to come by and pay him a visit like he usually did after the festival, this fact alone caused him to become a little concerned. But as the day wore on and he had yet to even receive any news about the boy's pranks or emergency notices concerning the young blonde caused him to become really concerned about the child's wellbeing. So once Sarutobi had finished the last bit of paperwork he was currently on he let out a sigh and got up to go and look for Naruto.

Just then a loud commotion could be heard behind the finely crafted wooden doors that lead to the reception area. Then before he could even get out from behind his desk the duel doors got knocked off its brass hinges and went crashing to the ground. As the dust settled to the ground a very pissed off Mitarashi Anko barged into room, her long tan trench coat moved as though an invisible wind blew past her as she dragged one of the Chunin guards in with her. Once Anko was in front of Sarutobi's desk she unceremoniously dropped the guard to the floor and with a glared that would send a shiver down her old sensei's spine she made her aggravation known. "All right! Were the hell is the Gaki!"

Sarutobi let a breath he didn't realize he was holding as all his worries about Naruto's safety melted away, after all if the young woman in from of him is this pissed Naruto must have played a really nasty prank on her. With a grandfatherly smile on his face Sarutobi asked "And just what has Naruto done this time?"

"Done… Done! What the hell are you talking about!" screamed Anko a look of utter disbelief clearly present on her face as she tried to comprehend that he had no clue as to what was going on. Finally her anger and concern for the person in question got the best of her, and as she clinched her fist to contain her rage she snapped "I want to know where the Gaki is right now!"

Taking note of the desperation hidden under all the anger that was just displayed Sarutobi got a sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach. Wanting to get more information before he came to the wrong conclusion Sarutobi walked out from behind his desk and he got a serious look on his face to show Anko he wanted answers. "Anko-chan you need to calm down, and tell me what exactly is going on here?"

The tone in Sarutobi's voice snapped Anko out of her blind rage and after she took a couple of deep breaths to help collect her thought she told him what she had discovered. "Look… all I know is that after I got back from my mission, I went to go check on the Gaki and wish him a belated birthday… since I missed it yesterday." She sent a harsh glare at the Hokage to get her point across that she wasn't happy about that at all. When she saw the man flinch under her gaze she got a small smirk on her face before she continued with her story. "But when I got there the door was unlock and the place was a mess…"

"Anko-Chan …" interrupted the Hokage as he grabbed the tip of his hat and pulled it down slightly as he started to wonder if Anko had pushed herself too hard in the last mission to make it back here so fast. "You know Naruto never locks his door and his place is always a mess."

"That's not what's got me worried!" retorted Anko, as she got right in the Hokage's face to emphasize her next point "There was ramen spewed all across his kitchen table and a shattered bowl on the floor!"

When Sarutobi heard this the sinking feeling he had in his stomach earlier dropped into a bottomless pit as he thought to himself _'Naruto would never let a bowl of ramen go to waste… this is not good, not good at all.' _

Without a moment's hesitation Sarutobi went over to his desk and pushed the intercom button just to the right of his big pile of paperwork before he said "I want Kakashi in here now! Tell him if not here in the next 10 minutes then I'm going to make him a jonin sensei and have them doing nothing but D-rank missions until I say otherwise!"

"Y-Y-Yes Hokage-sama." his secretary quickly stuttered and the faint nose of a chair being knocked over could be heard from the other side of the intercom before it went silent.

With that out of the way Sarutobi's mind quickly went to what would be needed for when Kakashi arrived and once he came up with a plan of action he turned to Anko and relayed his orders "Anko if Kakahsi is going to be able to find Naruto we'll need something that has Naruto's sent on it. Go to his apartment and find whatever you can to accomplish this task."

"I'm on it Hokage-sama." Replied Anko as she quickly bowed her head in respect of the aged leader before she channeled her chakra and vanished in a swirl of leaves.

Not even 5 minutes later Anko puffed back into the room with what was needed to find Naruto, his funny little nightcap with two big teeth hanging down in the front and giant eyes sown into the material. But as the time passed the ten minute mark Anko got more and more agitated until she was no longer able to stand still and she started to pace around the Hokage's Office in order to vent her frustration. Then when the time nearly hit the twenty minute mark she could no longer contain her rage and she slammed her fist into the wall as she snarled "Where in the seven hells is he?"

As if to answer her question the oak doors to the Hokage's office opened and in walked Kakashi, with a lazy carefree expression on his face. However before he could give his customary greeting Anko grabbed him by his Jonin vest and slammed him into the wall so hard cracks began to form. She then pulled out a Kunai and placed it up against his crotch before she growled "What the hell took you so long Kakashi! And I swear to Kami if you don't have a good reason, I'll give you a sex-change right here!"

Though Kakashi didn't show any reaction to his current situation on the outside, mentally however he was sweating bullets, especially when he felt the tip of the Kunai press up against his precious manhood with enough pressure to cause some discomfort without any serious harm being done. Still after pondering the situation he didn't think she would actually go through with it with the Hokage present, so he simply just stared at Anko and in his usual carefree way said "Well you see there was this problem with my mask. It seems to have shrunk in the wash so I had to go buy a new one."

Anko's right eyebrow twitched in irritation for several moments before she tightened her grip on his vest and shouted "Ok that's it! It's time to say good bye to your little friend Kakashi!"

But before she could go through with her threat Sarutobi grabbed her wrist and after he gave her a harsh glare that sent a clear signal that he wasn't in the mode for these games he said "Anko I know you're distressed over Naruto, but I will not tolerate you maiming my Shinobi. Now release Kakashi so we can proceed with the task at hand."

After a moment's hesitation Anko pulled the kunai away from Kakashi's nether regions and released her grip on him before she stormed over to the other side of the room grumbling about lazy perverts and wanting to castrate them all. With Kakashi out of anko's crosshairs for now Sarutobi leveled his gaze on the man and said "Kakashi I don't have time to deal with your tardiness right now so we'll talk about that later."

Once he let that sink into the Jonin's head he pulled out the nightcap Anko retrieved early and relayed his orders to his tardy Jonin. "Now Naruto is missing and it is possible that he's hurt. Use this to track him down immediately."

"Hai Hokage-sama." replied Kakahsi as he was already going through a series of hand-seals and channeling the chakra necessary to perform the jutsu needed. After he formed the last hand-seal needed he slammed his hand onto the ground and called out the name of the jutsu "Kuchiyose no jutsu!" A puff of smoke erupted from his hand, and encompassed an area the size of a chair, then once it cleared a dog wearing a Konoha headband could be seen sitting in the very spot Kakashi's hand was just moments before.

"Yo." was the pudgy little dogs greeting as he waved his right front paw, but when he noticed the Hokage and a very irate kunoichi he turned towards his summoner and asked "Ah… what's up Kakashi?"

"Pakkun we have a problem. It appears that Naruto is missing and we need you to track him down." stated Kakashi as Sarutobi not wanting to waste any more time pulled out the child's nightcap for the dog now known as Pakkun to sniff.

Pakkun took one whiff of the nightcap before his highly sensitive nose picked up the scent of the one thing he detested most in the world. His face turned a dark shade of green and as he brought his two front paws up to his mouth to restrain his gag reflex he said "Does this kid bath in ramen? I mean really who could really enjoy that vial stuff anyway?"

Anko made it across the room in the blink of an eye and picked up the small dog by the scruff of the neck before she snarled "I don't give a shit what your personal opinion of his eating habits is. Now can you track his sent or not?"

"Geez lady what's got your panties in a bunch?" questioned Pakkun but when he felt her tighten her grip he decided to not push her any further and started to rapidly sniff the air in the hopes of placating the pissed off women. Just then a faint breeze blew in from the open window and he stiffened he picked up the scent of blood mixed in with a heavy dose of ramen. He quickly wiggled out of Anko's iron grip and as he jumped out the window he said "Quickly follow me."

Anko, Kakashi, and Sarutobi wasted no time and followed the little dog out the window and into the streets of Konoha. After several minutes of running along the tiled roof tops of the older wooden buildings of Konoha in the early evening hours, Pakkun's sensitive nose finally located the source of the blood mixed with ramen scent and jumped down into the garbage and maggot infested alleyway below. When the other's landed in the alley they were frozen in place at the scene that lay before them.

If a common villager were to look around this particular alleyway they would have gotten a sick feeling deep in the pit of their stomach. This particulate alleyway was covered in blood, from the walls to the dumpsters; even the ground had a large pull of blood in one spot close to the back of the alley. As Anko surveyed the scene in hopes of finding any clue to Naruto's wellbeing her eyes caught sight of a simple blood-soaked necklace just lying on the ground. Anguish and despair began to overtake her being and as the tears started to well up within her eyes, Anko focused solely on the necklace that she recognized all too well before she mumbled to herself "No…"

**(Flashback 3 days ago- Naruto's Apartment)**

"But Anko-neechan!" whined a watery eyed Naruto, who was barely able to hold back the tears that threatened to run down his face. As he looked up at Anko he gave her the best puppy dog eyes he could muster in the hopes that he could get her to change her mind. "You promised me that you would be with me on my birthday."

The sheer outpouring of emotion caused a sad smile to spread across Anko's face and in an attempt to lighten his mood a little she placed her hand on his head, and started to ruffle his hair before she tried to explain the situation "Look brat I'm sorry I really am, but orders are orders. The mission is real important for our village, and is expected to last at least three days. This means that I won't be able to get back to the village until the day after your birthday. Now suck it up, you are a big boy right? And big boys don't get upset about things like this."

"O-ok…" sniffled Naruto as he tried his best to be the big boy he wanted to be and make his sister figure proud of him.

When Anko saw how hard Naruto was trying to put up a brave face she got down on one knee so that they were face to face and she lightly ruffled his hair again before she said "Well brat, since I won't be here for your birthday. I think I'm just going to have to give you your present a little early."

Naruto's mood instantly brightened at the prospect of actually receiving something from someone other than the Hokage. His bright and vibrant eyes watched intently as Anko put her hands behind her neck and removed the necklace she was wearing. She then carefully put the necklace around Naruto's neck before she clasped the two ends together; she then gave it a gentle tug to make sure it was secure. Once her she got back to her feet she let a smile cross her face as she watched Naruto examine his new possession with the awe and reverence only a child could have. "Now I expect you to take good care of that alright." Said Anko as she put her hand on his head and ruffled his hair one more time.

After Naruto got away from Anko's antics he gave her the best foxy smile he hand and cheerfully replied "You bet Anko-neechan! I'll never take it off. That's a promise!"

**(End Flashback)**

'_Otouto…'_ Anko thought to herself as the emotional turmoil became too much and she collapsed to her knees. With a shaky hand she picked up the necklace and once it was in her hands she could no longer hold back the current of emotions she'd had bottled up since she first found that destroyed bowl of ramen. As the tears slowly rolled down her face she made a silent prayer._ '…Please be alright. I… I don't know what I'd do if I lost you too.'_

Meanwhile Sarutobi had just finished surveying his surroundings with a heavy heart, and as he rubbed some of the blood he had wiped of the walls between his fingers he thought to himself _'With this much blood all over the place, it's unlikely that anyone could have survived. Naruto… were you really the one hurt in this alleyway?'_

When he was brought out of his thoughts by the sounds of sobbing he quickly shifted his gaze over to the source only to find Anko on her knees clutching what appeared to be a simple necklace with tears streaming down her face. _'Anko's crying? I've never seen her cry so openly before. What did she find that put her in such a state?' _The bewildered Hokage thought to himself as he made his way over to the poor girl.

By the time he made it over to her he finally got a good look at the necklace that she had in her hands, it was a simple amulet with what appeared to be a rope tied around it, and that's when his eyes widened in horror as he finally placed where he had seen it before. _'Oh my god! That's the necklace that Anko gave Naruto for his birthday!'_

Sarutobi's desire to find Naruto doubled and he quickly used his advanced shinobi skills to scan the alley yet again in the hopes of finding any sign of Naruto but with this attempt came to no avail he turned his attention to Kakashi and relayed his new orders; "Kakashi! Gather your most trusted ANBU, and start searching the village and the outlining areas for any sign of Naruto, We need to find him now!"

Obeying his orders without question Kakashi merely nodded his head in acknowledgement before he disappeared in a puff of smoke. Once they were alone in the alleyway Sarutobi placed his hand on Anko's shoulder and put on his best grandfather face in an attempt to reassure the distraught woman. "Don't worry Anko-chan I'm sure that Naruto is just fine."

But when Anko didn't respond to him and just continued to stare at the necklace she was holding with a far off look on her face, he sighed in frustration and finally let his emotions to the surface by allowing a single tear to run down the side of his cheek. After his little outburst of emotion he turned his gaze towards the Hokage Monument and more specifically the Yondame Hokage's sculpted face and thought to himself. _'I'm so sorry Minato-san_,_ but it looks like I've failed you.' _

**(Tanzaku Town)**

The early morning rays of sunshine came through the window and started to bath the hotel room in its warm light, and when those rays fell upon a young blonde boy, who was still resting his head in Tsunade's lap, began to stir. Naruto slowly opened his eyes and as he rubbed the sand form them he noticed that his pillow was unusually warm and comforting, as if it was filled with the love and compassion that was sorely missing in his life. But when he looked up and saw that his head was in the lap of a blond haired lady the memories of what happened the night before flashed before his eyes.

Once his recollection was complete he instinctively reached for the necklace his neechan gave him only to discover that it was no longer in his possession. After a frantic check on his person with still no sign of the necklace the realization that he broke his promise to Anko sunk in and he did the only thing he could do, he curled himself into a ball and let the tears freely flow down his cheeks.

As the sounds of Naruto's crying became louder and louder the noise started to rouse a still groggy Tsunade. She slowly opened her eyes and stared at the ceiling above her for several moments before she glanced over at the far wall and saw the time on the clock. _'Man… I really hate mornings.' _She thought to herself just as the sounds of Naruto's crying reached her ears.

When she turned to look at the blond haired boy she got a pain in her heart at seeing him in such an emotional state. With the gentlest of gestures she tapped him on the shoulder and asked "What's wrong Naru-chan? I didn't squash any part of you while I slept did I?"

The moment Tsunade heard what she had said she flinched and let out an aggravated sigh as she thought to herself _'That sounded really lame. Argh! I'm no good at this sort of thing.'_

"No… nothing like that." sniffled Naruto as he wiped the underside of his nose before he lowered his head so that his chin rested on his knees and mumbled "I-I broke my promise to Anko-neechan."

"You have a sister?" Tsunade practically shouted as she racked her brain but couldn't recall Naruto having any surviving relatives, in fact the only person she could think of that would qualify as family was his rumored Godfather Jiraiya, but since he never took any responsibility in raising the boy she quickly dismissed that as a possibility.

"She's not my real sister…" muttered Naruto as he rubbed his puffy red eyes to clear his watery vision. He then looked up at Tsunade and when he saw her questioning look he elaborated, "But after she saved me last year she started to look after me. You know check to make sure I was alright and stuff like that… when she wasn't on a mission of course. She even trained me on how to avoid the villagers. That way they wouldn't be able to hurt me."

"Sounds like she cares about you very much." Tsunade whispered into Naruto's ear as she allowed a faint smile to cross her lips at the news that not everyone in that horrible village hated him before she decided to discreetly get ahold of this person and inform them of Naruto's survival, and who knows she may even agree to be their eyes and ears within the village, an advantage that would be invaluable in the future should they ever come to suspect that Naruto survived.

"Yeah, I guess she does!" chirped Naruto as a warm fuzzy feeling filled his being at the thought of all that Anko had done for him, then his mind drifted to their last meeting. "She even gave me my first birthday present early, because she would be on a mission and would miss it. It was this necklace that she always wore." added Naruto as tears started to well up and threated to overflow as he reached up to where the necklace hung from his neck just the day before he sniffled "A-and, and then… it was taken from me when those shinobi with weird eyes attacked me."

Without a second thought Tsunade pulled Naruto into a hug and gently rubbed the back of his head while she whispered reassuring words in his ear. "Shhh… It's alright. You didn't break your promise to your sister. Always remember that it wasn't you that lose the necklace. It was taken from you and I'm sure she won't hold that against you… she cares too much for you to do that."

Once Naruto started to calm down Tsunade looked down at the boy and asked the question that had been bugging her since he made that comment about the eyes. "Naru-chan you said they had weird eyes. Could you tell me a little more about that?"

"I'll never forget those eyes as long as I live…" Naruto mumbled to himself as his eyes glazed over slightly when he pulled that terrible memory to the surface. "They were red with these weird marks that went around in a circle. They were filled with so much hate that… that…"

Naruto never got to finish his thoughts as Tsunade pulled Naruto into an even tighter hug and without even a word spoken between the two Naruto buried his head into her chest and began to cry anew. Tsunade let out a sigh of despair at the emotional outpouring of the poor neglected child before she looked out the nearest window and hardened her gaze as she thought to herself, _'So it was the Uchiha Clan that did this to him. I swear… one day I'll make them pay for this.'_

After her little moment with Naruto Tsunade realized that she had yet to hear a peep out of Shizune. But when she looked over where she last remembered seeing her apprentice she couldn't help the smile that spread across her face. The reason for this was simple she saw Shizune with her head on the tabletop with a little bit of drool dripped out of the bottom of her mouth that formed a small puddle on the tabletop and her arms just daggling at her side.

'_I swear Shizune. You can sleep anywhere.'_ Tsunade thought to herself as she shook her head at her apprentices sleeping habits.

While all this was going on Naruto had managed to calm himself from his earlier crying fit and asked the one question that had been swirling around in his head since Tsunade told him where she found his broken body. "Tsunade-san…what will happen to me now?"

Tsunade couldn't help herself she chuckled at his comment, and figuring she'd kill two birds with one stone said "Naruto, please don't call me Tsunade-san. After all… is that anyway to address your new Kaa-san."

Unable to believe what he just hear he just sat there frozen in place, and after he got over the shock his eyes got as big as dinner plates. But with a nagging voice in the back of his head telling him he heard her wrong Naruto pulled away from Tsuande and in a quivering voice mumbled "W-W-What did you just say?"

"I said…" Tsunade paused only for a moment so that she could put her left hand under his chin and she raised his head so he could get a clear look at her face. She then let her smile get even bigger before she continued "Is that anyway to address your new Kaa-san. After all, I've decided to take you with us and raise you as my own. That is… if you'll have me."

Naruto got really quite and he lowered his head so that his hair cover his eyes but just as Tsuande started to worry that he was going to take this the wrong way he said "Can you promise me just one thing?"

But before Tsuande had a chance to form any kind of rely he lifted his head up so that they made direct eye contact and as a few tears rolled down his cheeks he finished his line of thought. "Promise me… Promise me that you won't abandon me? I don't want to be alone anymore."

Tsunade's smile softened as she quickly enveloped him in a hug and in a tone that one would expect a mother would use to comfort her child she said "Don't worry my little Naru-chan. I promise that neither Shizune nor I will ever leave you. You won't ever be alone again."

When Naruto heard this he returned her hug this time and with a genuine smile on his face he kept repeating over and over "I have a family. I have a family!"

"Now Naru-chan…" Tsunade started to say but stopped and decided to wait until he had calmed down from his excitement at finally having a family. When she saw that she had gained his full attention she continued "What do you say we go wake up Shizune? That way we can properly celebrate you joining your new family."

Naruto jumped out of Tsunade's embrace and pumped his fist into the air as he shouted "Yeah! I've never been able to celebrate anything before so this is going to be so awesome!"

Without any form of prompting from Tsunade Naruto ran over to the where Shizune still slept and jumped onto Shizune's back while he said "Wake up Nee-chan! I want to go celebrate with my new family!"

The poor victim of the boy's attack shot up from her chair and much to the surprise of Tsuande Naruto managed to stay on Shizune's back by wrapping his arms around her neck. As Shizune looked over her shoulder at the blond haired boy shock was clearly evident on her face as she shrieked "What's going on!"

Ignoring her apprentice's question Tsunade walked up to the pair with a smile on her face as she said "Now since we are celebrating Naru-chan's introduction into my clan, I'll let him decide where we should go."

Tsunade's smile got even bigger when she saw the look of shock and awe on Naruto's face at being able to choose whatever he wanted. When she saw that he wasn't going to respond right away she asked "Well Naru-chan? What would you like to have to commemorate the day you gained a family?"

The shock and awe was quickly replaced by an overwhelming since of happiness a deep happiness that he has never experienced before and as his fox-like smile got plastered all over his face he shouted "Ramen!"

()

Author's note: Well there's my rewrite/revised version of chapter 1. I'm still on the fence about going back and doing the rest. Let me know what you think. Thanks in advance.

P.S. I'm still working on future chapters of this story, as well as a new project I'm working on.


	2. Chapter 2: Anko's Grief

-1

"Speech"

'_Thoughts'_

**Demon/Summon speech**

_**Demon/Summon thoughts**_

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or any of the characters created by Kishimoto

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Chapter 2: Anko's Grief

(Somewhere in Konoha)

We find Anko walking down the street with a sneer on her face as she passes by some villager's, who quickly get out of her way. In the past to 2 weeks Anko has started to get a reputation for being even more of a sadist, or as some have come to call her 'The Psychotic Snake Witch' for stopping any and all parties that celebrated Naruto's death.

Any villager that got on her bad side on this issue, wound up in the hospital with many lacerations and a couple broken bones, one person even wanted to find Naruto's body just so they could burn it, to give him a proper send off back to hell, this comment got he strung up in front of the Hokage Tower, upside down in nothing but his underwear with a kunai with a note that said 'Say that again and I won't miss next time' just inches for his family jewels.

After passing by the villagers Anko face softened when she thought about Naruto's death. She still couldn't believe that he was really gone, and she didn't fail to see the irony of losing him to an attacking mob, after all that's how they first met.

(Flashback 1 year ago)

A 16 year old Anko was walking down the street mentally congratulating herself for passing her exam and making Tokubetsu Jounin. When she heard the muffled cry's of a group of people coming from the other side of the street.

As Anko makes her way to the front of the crowd she couldn't help but think _'What's got all these people so worked up.' _When she finally got to the front of the crowd, she stopped dead in her track's, for right in front of her was a small boy, no older than 3 or 4 years of age, lying down in the mud, his blonde hair matted with mud and dried blood, his left arm bent in an unnatural position (clearly broken), and several minor cuts and bruises all over his body.

After hearing comments like "Demon brat", "Kill the demon!", and "Why don't you go back to hell, that's where you belong after all." Anko couldn't help feel sympathy for the boy as she to was treated badly because of her sensei gone missing nin, but her thought's went in a different direction _'So that's the Kyuubi vessel, can't these people tell the difference between the demon and its jailor. I mean my father taught me a little about seals, and even I can tell the difference.'_

Thinking of her father put a frown on her face, thinking back to what the council forced her to do _'Damn council, won't even let me take my father's clan name even though I'm a __Tokubetsu Jounin now. Those old bustard's will only let me take my mother's maiden name of Mitarashi.'_

Being brought out of her thoughts as she a knife being thrown at the boy, she reacts without a second thought; Anko jumped in front of the boy and deflected the knife. Anko gets into a defensive position, and yells "WHAT THE HELL DO YOU THINK YOUR DOING!" while she scans the crowd for any more attacks.

"Were getting ride of the Demon! What does it look like, you SNAKE WHORE!" shouted someone in the crowd.

Anko's right eyebrow started to twitch as she looked at the crowd, "Snake whore, SNAKE WHORE! First you try to kill a small child then you just have to insult me. THAT'S IT! You're all going to pay now KUCHIYOSE NO JUTSU!" as she slammed her hand into the ground and several dog size snakes appear.

"All right boys go and have your fun, just don't make their pain end too quickly!" said Anko with a sadistic look on her face.

Upon hearing the jutsu that this defender of the demon used, many in the crowd started to panic and flee the scene. Just as the snakes were about to attack, kunai came raining down, dispersing all of the snakes in a cloud of smoke. When the cloud of smoke cleared, Anko found out that Naruto and herself where surrounded by Anbu. Glaring at the dog faced Anbu, Anko couldn't help but yell "Why did you stop me?! These little maggots need to be taught a lesson!"

"It's because you went to far Anko." came the reply of an elderly man in white robes and a hat with the kanji of fire on it.

Anko's eye's widened in surprise at the comment, as she said "Hokage-sama, you can't mean that, you're just going to let them get away with this!"

Sarutobi brought a hand to the brim of his hat and pulled it down, closed his eyes and took a deep sigh. He than opened his eyes to meet Anko's eyes, seeing the hurt and confused look in them he told her "Anko, I happy to see that you've protected Naruto, and I have no intention of letting them go unpunished, but I can't just let you go and do whatever you want them either. Think about it Anko then you would be no better than them, and besides what do you think your father would have done if he was still with us?"

At the comment about her father, her put her head down with her hair covering her eyes thinking _'The old man's right, Father would have handled that a little differently, but I'm not my father.'_

Anko comes out of her thought's as she feels a tug on the sleeve, she looks down only to find little Naruto holding onto her sleeve while in the Hokage's arms._ 'Are you telling me the squirt was still conscious after all that? …..What a minute, when did the old man pick him up?'_

Filing those questions away for later, Anko heard Naruto mumble something to her, leaning in closer to him, she smiles down at him saying "What was that squirt?"

Naruto looks up with a weak smile on his face and with a soft voice says "Thanks for saving me from the mean people……I'm a little (yawn) sleepy I think …I'll take a nap now…….." As he closes his eyes and goes to sleep.

After Naruto fell asleep Sarutobi looked at Anko with a smile on his face, "Don't worry Anko, he's just fallen asleep. He's safe now, so you can just go on home and get some rest; we'll take him to the hospital."

"But….." escapes her lips as she glances down at Naruto.

Sarutobi let out a sigh "I can assure you, he is quite alright, but you need to go home and get some rest after all you had a busy day, what with the exams and now this incident, now don't make me have to turn this into an order."

Lowering her head in defeat she reply's "Yes Hokage-sama." As Sarutobi and the Anbu squad took off for the hospital. As she started off toward her apartment, she glances back in the direction of the hospital; her only thoughts were _'At least he's safe now.'_

(End Flashback)

Coming out of her thought's Anko realizes that she's stopped right in front of Ichiraku's ramen stand. Looking over at the two empty seats that she and Naruto would always sit at, she couldn't help but see two ghostly figure sitting there, one was of herself sitting there listening to the other ghostly figure of Naruto as he was smiling and laughing about something that happened that day.

Shaking her head to clear the image from her mind she continues on to her apartment. As she starts to open the front door to her place she can't help but wonder about something _'Why did they take the body, and not even bother to clean up the alleyway? They must have known that the council would not pursue the matter without hard evidence of an actual murder, then that mean's the one's who killed my otouto had to be shinobi, besides I trained him to well for him to be caught by those damn villagers.' _

After locking her door Anko starts to turn around to head into her living room when a big puff of smoke appears right in front of her. Anko jump's back, almost slamming into her front door, as she makes a quick jerking motion with her right hand to make a kunai appear.

When the smoke clears Anko just gets a purely dumbfounded look on her face as she sees a slug that is as big as an Inuzuka clan dog with what looked like two scroll's wrapped in its antenna.

Before Anko can even do anything the slug looks straight at her and says "Excuse me young lady, but would you happen to be 'Anko-neechan' by any change?"

Out of all the possible things Anko was expecting to happen, being asked that one question was not one of them. Her eyes grew wide and her left hand went up to the necklace around her neck and put it into a vice like grip. _'Only one person ever called me that, but he's dead. So how does this slug know that name?'_

Recovering from her shock a moment later, Anko narrowed her eyes at the slug; a frown appeared on her lips as she gets a tighter grip on the kunai in her right hand. "Who wants to know?"

Without even missing a beat the slug responds "My Mistress, Tunade-sama asked me to deliver these two letters to a person, according to Tsunade-sama's new charge anyway, named 'Anko-neechan' at this location. You match the description given to me by my Mistress's young charge, so I figured that you must be this 'Anko-neechan' he told me about."

'_Tsunade-sama, as in the legendary slug sannin? Her new charge? What the hell is going on here!?'_

Taking a deep sigh Anko reply's "Yeah that's me." _'Might as well find out what's going on.'_

The slug extended its right antenna to show Anko the first scroll labeled 'Anko-neechan'.

"I'm to wait to see if you want to give a response to those letters."

"Whatever." As Anko's trembling hands opened the first scroll.

Dear Anko-neechan,

I'm writing this to let you know that I'm alright, sorry for taking so long to 

get in touch, but, Kaasan wanted to make sure that you were the only one to

get this letter. Oh yeah, I've got a Kaasan and another Neechan now can you 

believe it; they really want to take care of me, me the orphan that nobody 

wanted.

Ok almost nobody, sorry neechan, anyway my Kaasan's name is Tsunade, 

she's some hot shot medic nin or something, and my other Neechan's name 

is Shizune she's Kaasan's apprentice. Hey guess what Kaasan says she is 

going to take me on as an apprentice and train me to be stronger. Neechan, 

there's something I need to tell you, when I got attacked they took the 

necklace you gave me for my birthday, please forgive me for breaking my 

promise to never take it off. I would really like to tell were I am, but all I 

know is that it's a town a long way away from you. Kaasan told me the 

she's writing a letter to you as well and give you this places name, anyway

I hope you come visit us really soon, bye Anko-neechan hope to talk to you 

later.

Naruto

Anko's eyes tears of happiness came down her face and her lips curled into a smile, as she read the letter again and then look at the little scribble of a Naruto head with a foxy grin and one hand in a victory sign. _'He's Alive! He's really alive! I can't believe he's still alive!'_

With a smile still on her face Anko put the letter from Naruto down on the table, and picked up the second scroll labeled 'Anko-san'. As she opened it she couldn't help but wonder what Tsunade-same would want to write about.

To Anko-san,

Hello Anko-san if Naruto hasn't already told you my name is Tsunade. 

I'm writing this letter to inform you of some matters that have come to 

my attention, the first is to let you know that I am indeed making 

Naruto my son and apprentice. I won't go into details as to why I 

decided this, but I will say this I plain on making, Konoha regret their 

decision in trying to get ride of him. I'm going to train him to be the 

best Medical Ninja this world has ever seen.

The second matter is one of the most important we need to discuss. 

Under no circumstances are you to let anybody know that Naruto is 

alive, you can't even tell Sarutobi-sensei. If you tell him he will have to 

inform the council, and as you know there are probably many people on 

the council that would use this chance to make Naruto was never heard 

from again. I will not let that happen even if it means that I have to 

become a missing nin.

The final matter I need to inform you on concerns the attack on Naruto. 

When Shizune and I found his he was barely clinging to life, in fact if it 

wasn't for the Kyuubi, Naruto wouldn't be alive right know. He had 

cut and deep gashed all over his body, his left leg was fractured, the 

right arm was completely snapped in half, he had several cracked ribs, 

and was suffering from some internal bleeding. (At the point Anko

gritted her teeth and was using every once of willpower the not

crumple Tsunade's letter) After we were able heal his injuries, I had a 

talk with him about the attack, luckily he can't remember most of what 

happened to him, I just hope that this means the trauma of the attack is 

kept to a minimum. Anyway Naruto does remember one thing about 

his attackers, and that is there eyes, he said the have red eyes with black 

commas in them, ring any bells? (Anko's eyes narrowed and some

wrinkles appeared on the paper,she only hand one thought _'Uchiha's, _

_there going to pay for hurting my otouto.'_ If you guessed the Uchiha 

clan, then you're corrected, but before you do anything stupid a little 

piece of advice. Don't do anything to the Uchiha Clan until you have 

some evidence of them being involved in the assault. 

Now if you want to see Naruto again we will be in Tanzuku Town for 

at least two to three more weeks before moving on. So I recommend that 

you get some time off and permission to leave the village for that period 

of time, I really don't care how you do it, but I know for a fact that 

Naruto would really like to see you again.

Tsunade

After she finished reading Tsunade's letter Anko turned to the slug "Alright could you tell Tsunade-sama that I will be there as soon as I can. I want to talk to her about the brat's training, and about 'This Clan Problem'."

"Very well Anko-san I shall relay the message for you, good-bye." the slug then disappeared in a puff of smoke.

After the slug left Anko went about gathering all the stuff she would need for her trip to Tanzuku Town. When she had all her things packed she locked her apartment and headed for the Hokage Tower.

(Hokage Tower)

Sarutobi was sitting at his desk working on the latest batch of paperwork, when he heard a knock on the door. Thankful for the little distraction he looked up at the door and said "Enter."

When Anko enters the Hokage Office she sees the Hokage looking at her with a smile on his face. Deciding to get straight to the point of her visit she blurts out "Hokage-sama, I request to have two to three weeks of so I can get my head together." Seeing no reaction from the Hokage Anko decided to continue "I would also like to have your permission to go and leave the village to visit some of the other villages in Fire Country. I-I just need to get away for here for a little while."

Upon hearing this Sarutobi was deep in thought, he knew that Naruto's death had hit her hard and that she needed time to grieve, so being the kindhearted person he was, released a deep sigh and said this "Very well Anko, I'll give you your three weeks, and I'll even let you visit the other towns in Fire Country, but I want to be notified of what town you are in and were you will be staying, so that I can contact you in case something comes up alright."

Getting a big smile on her face Anko bows to the Hokage and says "Thank you Hokage-sama and I think I will go to Tanzuku town first so I can see the sight's and try to clear my head."

Smiling at Anko Sarutobi dismisses her so she can start her vacation. _'I just hope this help's you come to terms with Naruto's death.'_

When Anko steps outside of the Hokage Office she grab's her pack she head's out of the tower and toward Tanzuku Town.

'_I'll be there soon otouto, and when I get there I'm going to help you become even stronger, so that this place realizes what a mistake they've made.'_

Next Chapter: Let the tortur……err training begin!

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Author's note: Well there's Chapter 2 I hope you like it, I wanted to get a little background on how Anko and Naruto first met. The next update might take a little longer because I will be covering the next 7 years of training he goes through. I'm going to try to get to the wave arc by chapter 4; I think you'll like my take on it since he won't be a Konoha shinobi.

The poll for Kyuubi being male or female stands at

Male: 5

Female: 11

Note: Kyuubi role won't really be any different, if it's male Naruto will see him as a father figure (if I can do it right), and if it's female Naruto will see her as a grandmother figure (come on I have to have him call somebody "Obachan")


	3. Ch3:Let the tortuerr training begin

-1

"Speech"

'_Thoughts'_

**Demon/Summon speech**

_**Demon/Summon thoughts**_

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or any of the characters created by Kishimoto

Author Note: The poll is over and the winner is…..Female Kyuubi by a count of 13 to 8

Now for those of you worried about a male influence, he will get a brother

figure in the near future. Also I ended up splitting Naruto's training into two

chapters, so the wave arc will not be until chapter 5.

cooltony101neo: thanks for the info, and if anyone knows a good site for translating justu names for English in to Japanese, I would appreciate the help.

Now on with the story.

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Chapter 3: Let the tortu…err training begin.

Naruto still couldn't believe this was happening to him. First he is nearly killed be a mob of shinobi, then to be found by Tsunade and Shizune, who just happen to be walking by, and then they decide to take him under there wing. In fact Tsunade has spent most of the last two weeks getting to know Naruto; she has even started to call him Naru-chan.

Naruto is now, in the forest just outside of Tanuzuku Town with Tsunade and Shizune, in just a blue T-shirt a tan pair of pants and a pair of sneakers, waiting for his training to begin.

"Alright Naru-chan before we begin your training I need to know if you know what chakra is and how to channel it?" Tsunade asked.

"Of course Kaasan, we covered what chakra is and how to channel it at the academy about a month ago."

"Good, that will make things easier, now I have just one more question. What do you plan to do with the training that I'm going to give you?"

"Well if we were still in the village, I would want to use the training to fulfill my dream of becoming Hokage, so everyone would stop disrespecting me and acknowledge my existence….but after everything that has happened lately I don't know if I want that anymore."

Tsunade's eyes glazed over at this comment thinking of her brother Nawaki and her loved one Dan. She is brought out of these thoughts when Naruto continued.

"I may not be sure of my dreams anymore, but there is one thing that I know I will do from now on. I must get stronger so I can protect the one's I care about; I will not let any one take them away from me." Naruto said with a fierce determination in his eyes.

Tsunade couldn't help but smile_ 'At least the villager's haven't completely destroyed his kindness or his determination_' "Alright Naru-chan since you know how to mold chakra, why don't you do so now so I can see what we have to work with."

As Naruto put his hands into a ram seal and started to gather his chakra, Tsunade and Shizune were floored by how much chakra he was producing. Both of them wee thinking the exact same thing _'What the hell!? He's got more chakra than most genin have a year after they graduate, and he's only five years old for crying out loud!'_

"H-How can he have so much chakra?" asked a startled Shizune.

The smile on Tsunade's face got even bigger at this revelation. "That's enough Naru-chan, you did a great job." _'Konoha has no idea that they let such a promising shinobi slip through there fingers, but I plan on making them see how foolish they were.'_

Naruto got a foxy grin on his face as he rubbed the back of his head. "Thanks Kaasan, but I've never been complemented before. Is there anything I'm supposed to do?"

Tsunade's smile turned into a frown at that comment. "No Naru-chan, just saying thank you really all there is." before Tsunade could continue a slug appeared next to her and delivered Anko's message, causing the smile to return to her face.

"Naru-chan come over here for a second ok."

"What is it Kaasan?"

"I've got some good news for you; it looks like Anko-san is coming to visit you after all."

Naruto smile returned to his face as he hugged Tsunade "I get to see Anko-neechan!"

Patting his head she couldn't help but return the hug, while saying "Come on Naru-chan it's time to start your training."

Releasing the hug and getting a serious look on her face, Tsunade starts to explain the exercise "Ok the first thing we're going to work on is your chakra control. Since you have such a large chakra reserve it will be a little harder for you to control it, but with some time and hard work you will be able to get as good as me, if not better."

Nodding his head Naruto couldn't wait to start learning so he could make them proud of him. "So what kind of control technique are you going to teach me?"

"Tree Climbing, but you can only use your feet when climbing the tree."

"WHAT!? How can you climb a tree with out using your hands?"

Tsunade couldn't help but smile at his reaction "By focusing your chakra on the bottom of your feet and regulating it just right so you stick to the surface of the tree, here I'll show you." As she focus her chakra and started to climb up the side of the tree. "Now you might want to get a running start at the beginning to get some momentum." she then through a kunai at Naruto's feet "Use this to mark your progress."

Picking the kunai up Naruto started to run at a tree and started to run up the side. He was able to get four steps up the tree before he fell down to the ground. Looking back at the tree with an intense glare Naruto focused his chakra again and ran up the tree. This time he got a little bit further before he fell back to the ground.

"Remember Naruto-chan you need to regulate your chakra flow in order to stick to the tree." Shizune encouraged.

Taking a few seconds to think about this he tried it one more time and managed to make it half way up the tree before he lost his grip.

Tsunade couldn't help but be amazed at how quickly Naruto was able to grasp the concept of the technique._ 'Unbelievable Naru-chan has already been able to progress this far, with this genin level technique. If he's able to put this mush focus into all of his training there's no telling how powerful he may become.' _

For the next couple of day's Tsunade had Naruto focus on tree climbing, she wanted to improve his control before she started his medical justu and Taijustu training. Naruto would continue to climb up and down the tree until it became second nature to him. This is the scene that one Anko Mitarashi came upon when she arrived. She was completely surprised by what her otouto was doing.

"Hey Gaki, when did you learn to control your chakra so well?" she asked as she walked up to the group.

Naruto instantly recognized that voice and quickly turned and ran toward the person and enveloped them in a hug, while yelling "Anko-neechan!"

After that tinder moment was over, Anko reached behind her neck and took off the necklace and handed it to Naruto "I think you lost this gaki."

"I promise, Anko-neehan I won't lost it again." said Naruto as the attack flashed through his mind while he put the necklace on.

Gripping the necklace in his hand he lowered his head so that his hair covered is eyes, as a question that has been bothering him for awhile now came to the surface, and he whispered "Why?"

"What was that Naru-chan?" Tsunade's said in a concerned voice.

Lifting his head up to show a look of sorrow on his face Naruto says "Why? Why do they hate me so much? What did I ever do to deserve this? Why must I suffer like this? Why? Why? WHY!?" He then fell to his knees slammed his fists in to the ground.

Tsunsade knelt down in front of Naruto and enveloped him in a hug while saying in a soothing voice "You haven't done anything wrong, Naru-chan. I didn't want to tell you this right now, but you have a right to know the truth."

Both Anko and Shizune get worried looks on their faces. They both fear that Naruto will start to hate them when he learns that he is the Kyuubi Vessel.

"Naru-chan, do you remember the story of how the Yondaime defeated the Kyuubi?"

"Of course Kaasan, he was able to kill the demon at the cost of his life, everybody knows that story."

Tsunade let out a sigh "That not what really happened back then, that was what the younger generation was told so they wouldn't know the truth."

Naruto looked at her with confusion all over his face "So we wouldn't learn the truth? What are you talking about?"

"What I'm talking about is the fact that the Yondaime couldn't kill the Kyuubi, so he did the next best thing. He….."

"He sealed it inside of me didn't he." came Naruto's eerily calm voice.

This one comment shocked all three of them, Tsunade got a sickening feeling in the bottom of her stomach, at how calm his voice was when making that statement _'I've never heard him talk like that before.' _"How did you…."

"I overheard some people talking once about seal's a while back. They said that if they could seal me in a box and leave it somewhere, that it would be just as good as killing me." Naruto said in a detached voice.

This caused Tsunade to tighten the hug _'My god, what have those people done to you.'_

"So if Kyuubi is sealed into me, then does that mean I'm a demon or what?"

Tsunade put her hand to his chin and lifted his head so that their eyes made contact. "You're not the demon; you're just my little Naru-chan, who just happens to have the Kyuubi sealed into him. If you don't believe me, than just think about this, if those people had sealed you into that box, Then would that mean the box some how becomes you just because you were sealed into it?"

When Naruto heard it explained like that he started realize the truth in those words. A smile started to form as he said "You're right, if I was sealed in to a box, then I would be trapped in the box and couldn't get out, but the box would still be a box. So that means that I am still me and the fox is still the fox."

Just as Naruto finish his statement, he felt a hand on his shoulder turning his head to see who did it only to look into the smiling face of Anko. "That's right gaki, you are not the fox, you're just my annoying otouto who seems to believe the words of the villagers over his neechan."

"Did you just call me your otouto?"

'_Shit, did I say that out loud?'_ Anko grossed her arms and turned her hear away from him. "I don't know what you're talking about."

Tsunade and Shizune couldn't help but laugh at the antics between Anko and Naruto. Shizune just had to tease the two by saying "Yes you do Anko-san, it looks like our little Naruto-chan has himself a neechan how's in denial."

Tsunade decided to end this now before it escaladed further, "Stop it you two, we have more important thing to do right now. Shizune I need you to go and get all the supplies you will need to start Naru-chan's basic schooling."

"Yes Tsunade-sama." said Shizune as she heads off to go get the supplies.

Before Tsunade could give out any more orders, Anko decided to ask a favor "Tsunade-sama do you think I can take over the gaki training for awhile? I want to see how good he's gotten."

"I guess that's ok, I'll just stand over here in case you want my help." came Tsunade reply as she headed over to the edge of their training field.

"No no that's alright why don't you go into town and relax, play some of the games at the casinos." pleaded Anko _'If she sees my training methods, she probably got to overreact or something.'_

At the mention of casinos started to think that wasn't such a bad idea _'Besides it's not like she'll hurt Naru-chan or anything.' _"Fine but if anything happens to him…"

"It'll be fine, besides its not like my training is going to kill him or anything." Anko said while waving her hand in a casual manner.

After Tsunade left Anko turned to Naruto and got a sinister looking smile on her face, one that caused a shiver to run down his spine. _'Oh Shit, last time she got a look like that I under went her training from hell.'_

"Alright gaki, I see you can do the tree climbing exercise pretty well. I think it's time to take it up a notch." As she pull out several kunai Anko continued "You are going to dodge any projectile that I throw at you, but you can only stick to the trees, you can't tough the ground got it. Ok gaki, ready set (Anko throws a kunai) GO!"

Naruto was able to dodge the first kunai that was thrown at him by ducking, but as soon as he go back to a standing position Anko was already behind him and grabbed both of his arms before saying "Didn't I tell you gaki that you can only us the tree when dodging my attacks." Then she proceeded to throw him up into the trees.

As the training went on Naruto was able to dodge more kunai while sticking to the trees. After a few hours of this Anko was getting hungry so she decided that it was time to call it a day.

"Come on gaki that enough fun for one day let's head back to get some dango."

"Fun! FUN! You call casing me around and giving me all these cuts and bruises fun?"

Anko narrowed her eyes and said "Yeah how else will you learn anything."

Seeing the look she gave him, he knew to not push it any further. Letting out a sigh he said "Let's just head back ok."

Once they rejoined the others it took both Shizune and Naruto to keep Tsunade from severely hurting Anko, after she found out about Anko's little training session. Needless to say that from then on Anko agreed to use blunt kunai in future sessions, I mean would you want to face the wrath of the slug sannin.

(Time skip)

It's been two weeks since Anko started to help train Naruto, and we find both her and Tsunade sitting at a bar while Shizune handles Naruto's basic schooling.

Taking a sip of her sake Tsunade look at Anko and say's "We can't just walk back to Konoha and accuse The Uchiha Clan of attempted murder with out some kind of hard evidence. That's why I need you to be my eyes and ears in Konoha."

"What do you want me to do Tsunade-sama?" Anko says while taking a sip of her own sake.

Looking into her sake dish Tsunade answers "I want you to keep close tabs on any Uchiha you think could be involved in Naruto's assault. Collect any evidence you can and bring it to me, but remember this you are not to do anything else without first consulting me got it. Naruto doesn't need to hear that his neechan got herself incarcerated or worse killed because she acted to rashly."

Anko lowered her head and gave a sigh of defeat "Hai Tsunade-sama, I swear I won't do anything rash." _'Unless I'm provoked that is.'_

Before the conversation could go any further two Konoha Shinobi approached there table. One was a man dressed in a standard Jonin outfit, this gentleman had a beard and a cigarette in his mouth, the other one was a woman about the same age as Anko dressed in a standard chunin outfit with black hair and red eyes.

Tsunade's eye's narrowed and feared the worst _'Did they find out Naruto was still alive?'_ she the said in a cold voice "What do you two want?"

Both shinobi were shocked by the harsh reception given to them. The man said "I'm sorry for out intrusion, but we have come to see Anko-san."

Anko just looked at the two and said "Nice to see you Asuma, Kurenai. What do you need to see me for?"

Asuma just looks at Anko and replies "Hokage-sama has requested that we escort you back to Konoha, Ibiki needs your help interrogating a new prisoner."

"Can't it wait five more days; I mean I'm on vacation here." Anko said as she took a sip of her sake.

Kurenai just shook her head "Anko, you know full well that this can't wait otherwise he wouldn't have sent us to get you."

"Fine." growls Anko as she stands up.

Tsunade also gets up, looks at Anko and says "I'll send Shizune your regards." then proceeds to walk out of the bar.

After Tsunade departs Kurenai looks at Anko and asks "What was that all about?"

"Let's just say she recently learned of something that made her detest Konoha even more. Not that I blame her though."

"Are you talking about that Naruto kid's death?" asked Asuma.

Anko just glared at him before saying "Lets go." and headed off toward Konoha.

Knowing full well that Anko was close to the boy, Kurenai just shook her head before saying "Idiot." Then follows after Anko.

Asuma completely clueless as to what that was all about just shrugged his shoulders before following the other two.

(Time skip)

It's been three years since Tsunade and Shizune found Naruto by the road side, and in that time he has learned a great deal. Shizune would give him his basic skills such as reading, writing and mathematics, as well as help Tsunade with his medical training.

Tsunade for her part would help Naruto with his chakra control by teaching more control exercises such as water walking, she also started to train him in her Taijustu style and he already is quickly starting to master it. Tsunade also made sure that Naruto had as much of a normal childhood as possible.

When ever Anko got a chance to visit, she would work on reinforcing his chakra control and working on his weapon accuracy, by having him do what he so affectionately called 'Training from Hell by Anko-neechan.'

Speaking of Anko we currently find her jumping from rooftop to rooftop, in the middle of the night, toward the Uchiha district. Her thought's are currently about how she has yet to acquire anything on the Uchiha clan. _'Three years! THREE BLOODY YEARS! And I have yet to find a damn thing on those bastards!'_

As she lands on a rooftop adjacent to the Uchiha compound she starts to scan the area for anything out of the ordinary. Through the darkness Anko could make out two figures lying on the ground. Just as she was going to go get a closer look she hears a voice.

"Hello Anko." said the cold and calm voice of someone standing behind Anko.

As she jumped away from the voice, Anko twisted in mid air so that when she lands she will be facing the person that knows her name. When she finally sees this person her eyes narrow and one word escapes her lips "Itachi"

Showing no emotion to Anko's reaction he simply says "Have you come here to stop me?"

Being caught off guard by that statement Anko had to ask "What the hell are you talking about?"

"I killed off the Uchiha Clan, and was on my way out of Konoha when I ran into you. So I ask again are you going to try and stop me?" came the calm voice of Itachi, his face showing no emotion when he talked about killing his clan.

Anko just shrugs her shoulders and says "Not really, if I had known ahead of time, I might have come earlier, just so I could join in. But I do have one question, why?"

Itachi was mentally surprised by Anko's remake but gave no outward sign of it. Before he turns to leave he tells her "Your decision to not interfere is a wise course of action, with that seal on you, you're no threat to me." Anko's hand instinctively went up to her neck and started to rub the seal. As Itachi starts to head toward the outer walls of the village he says one more thing. "The reason I killed my clan was because they had become a threat to me. Farewell Anko."

After Itachi left Anko just stood there for a little while rubbing the seal on her neck while thinking _'What the hell does he mean? Because of the seal I'm no threat to him?' _

After the Uchiha Massacre The Sandaime Hokage decided to raise the age at which you can graduate from the academy, as a way to prevent another person from gaining to much power at to young of an age.

As for Anko she was questioned about what happened that night, she told them everything she knew (minus the fact that she would have joined in and the fact that she basically let him go). It took several months for things to calm down enough for Anko to get some time off so she could go and see Naruto, Tsunade, and Shizune to inform them of what she knew about the massacre.

When Anko finally caught up with them, they were by a lake. Shizune was sitting on the shoreline watching as Tsunade and Naruto had a sparring match on the lake surface.

Naruto jumped back as Tsunade came down with a heel drop spraying water everywhere. As he came in with a counterattack, Tsunade blocked the punch and nailed Naruto in the stomach causing him to go down to his knees. "Your counterattack was to slow Naruto."

Getting back up to his feet Naruto throw a roundhouse kick aimed at her ribcage. Tsunade quickly countered with a sweep to the other leg causing him to land flat on his back. "I told you before; you need to watch that footwork Naruto."

Naruto jumped away from Tsunade to get some distance, when Tsunade got in to a defensive stance and made a come here motion with her hand in a mocking jester. The already frustrated Naruto lost is cool and charged in a rage only to find out that Tsunade is holding his left arm behind his back while securing the other arm with her free hand. "You can't let yourself become distracted by your frustration in a fight or you lose."

Looking toward the shoreline Tsunade notices that Anko has come to visit them. Releasing Naruto from the hold she said "That's enough for today Naru-chan, but you still need to work on keeping you cool in battle got that."

While rubbing his left wrist Naruto grumbled "Yes Kaasan I'm trying to keep my cool, but it's so frustrating when I can't get a good hit in you know."

"I know how you feel but keeping your cool will allow you to find a solution to your current problem, but enough about that it looks like we have a visitor." Says Tsunade as she points toward the shore.

Anko was amazed at the level of control that Naruto had shown during the fight._ 'Amazing he was able to stay atop the water during the hold fight even when Tsunade-sama got in a few good hits. When did the gaki get so good at controlling his chakra?'_

Shizune looks over at Anko and says "They've been at it like that for the past couple of hours know; I still can't believe how much stamina Naruto-kun has."

Anko could only nod her head in agreement to that statement, indeed it seemed that Naruto had an almost unlimited amount of energy; he could go on like that for hours and still have enough left to run around afterwards. Anko was brought out of her thought by none other than Naruto as he tackled her saying "I missed you Anko-neechan!"

Tsunade couldn't help but laugh at the antics of her son, but a quick look from Anko told her that they needed to talk privately. Looking at Shizune, Tsunade said "Shizune why don't you take Naru-chan and start his anatomy lesson ok."

Shizune understood the underlining message, that she wanted to talk to Anko alone so she nodded and said "Of course Tsunade-sama, come on Naruto-kun let's go and start your lesson now ok."

"But I want to spend some time with Anko-neechan." complained Naruto.

"She will still be here after your lesson now get a move on before she really does have to go back." said Tsunade as she gave him a look that meant there was no room for discussion.

After Shizune took Naruto away Anko got a very serious look on her face and said "Have you heard about the Uchiha Massacre?"

"Only rumors that the entire clan was wiped out, so what really happened?"

"Itachi killed his entire clan save for his younger brother Sasuke. As for why he did it all I can tell you is that he said 'They have become a threat to him'."

"He said? What aren't you telling me?"

Getting a sheepish grin and rubbing the back of her head Anko replied "Well you see I kind of ran into him when I was doing my surveillance of the Uchiha compound. When I told him I wouldn't fight him he said that because of that seal I was no threat to him. Do you know what he meant by that?"

Tsunade started to rub her temples after hearing all that Anko had to say. "Well he could have meant the fact that when it's active it causes you great pain and you are unable to use your chakra properly. So I wouldn't worry about it to much. Now let's head back to town so you can visit with that son of mine."

Nodding at the explanation given to her about the seal they both head back to town, to catch up with Shizune and Naruto.

Tsunade couldn't help but continue think about what Itachi said about Anko's seal. _'What did you mean Itachi when you said that because of the seal she was no threat? Is there more to that seal than what we already know?_ _I'll have to look into this.'_

Next Chapter: Enter Kyuubi!

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	4. Chapter 4: Enter Kyuubi

-1

"Speech"

'_Thoughts'_

**Demon/Summon speech**

_**Demon/Summon thoughts**_

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or any of the characters created by Kishimoto

Author note: Wow! I gotten over one hundred alerts just for the first three chapters of this story, Well I hope it continues to live up to your expectations.

Endermon: I put it under those two (for now may change it later) because Tsunade becomes Naruto's Mother and those two are the main characters. As for your second question I have thought about that, but for now I'll keep my thoughts to my self, I may want to change them as the story progresses.

Narutomaniac: Your first question will be answered in this chapter. As for your second question at this point in time no, but Naruto is working on improving his speed so he can keep up with Tsunade.

Now on with the Story

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It has been one year since the Uchiha Massacre and Tsunade was no closer to understanding what Itachi meant about Anko's seal other than what they already figured out. Tsunade had thought about talking to Jiraiya about the seal but there were three reasons that this didn't happen.

The first was the simple fact that she has no idea were he was our how she would go about finding him without aimlessly wonder all over the place. Something that she had no intention of doing right now.

The second was because Jiraiya was a self proclaimed super pervert, and she didn't want him to try and corrupt her son.

The third and most important reason had to do with Naruto himself, she didn't want to gamble on whether Jiraiya would keep quit about Naruto or would he tell Sarutobi-sensei about him. Tsunade may be a chronic gambler but one thing she will not gamble with his the safety of her son.

Because of these reasons Tsunade decided to contact Jiraiya as a last resort, but that wouldn't stop her from asking him if they happened to come across each other. So she has been looking for any information she can find about seals at every village that they come across. She would talk to anyone that had any experience with seals and would try to find books on the subject, but still no luck and Anko's seal seemed to have been suppressed by whatever method the Hokage used, so she still had time.

Right now she had more pressing matters to attend to, like getting back to Naruto's training. Tsunade wanted to try a new type of chakra control technique that would help him if he wanted to try and control Kyuubi's chakra in the future.

So she had Naruto on the outskirts of town, after picking up some pebbles she starts her lesson.

"Alright Naru-chan today I'm going to teach you a new control technique. I want you to use these pebbles and keep them perfectly balanced on the tips of your fingers while being able to move your fingers like you normally do, like this ok." after this explanation Tsunade gives a demonstration of the technique by moving her fingers around while keeping the pebbles on the tips of her fingers.

"Come on Kaasan this will be easy, I was hoping for a more challenging exercise, I'll have this mastered by the end of the day." said a confident Naruto.

"Confident aren't we, it's not as easy as you think it is but how about we make a little wager on it huh?"

"A bet Kaasan?"

"Yes a bet, if you can get to the point were you can do this exercise with your left hand by the end of three days, than I'll give up sake for a week."

Naruto was shocked by this statement; his Kaasan was willing to give up sake for a week just to prove him wrong? His only response was "Really?"

"Yes really, but if I win you have to give up ramen for a week."

"WHAT!!! Not the ramen anything but my ramen!" yelled a shocked Naruto.

"What? Did my little Naru-chan lose all his confidence already, what happened to mastering it in one day? I'm giving you three full days to learn it, pretty generous of me don't you think?" Tsunade said to egg him on.

Naruto thought about it for a moment before saying "Ok it's a bet, but are there any other restrictions besides the time limit?"

Puzzled Tsunade decided to see were this line of questioning was leading to "No I won't put any other restrictions. So why did you want to know about that anyway."

Naruto just rubbed the back of his head while giving a sheepish grin "No real reason really, I just wanted to make sure that I wasn't going to be cheating using this move."

Raising her eyebrow slightly Tsunade asked "What move?"

Naruto's sheepish grin turned into a foxy grin as his hands formed a cross seal as he shouted "Kage Bunshin No Justu!" as five Naruto's appeared.

Tsunade eyes widened in shock, _'What the Hell! Kage Bunshin's! Where the hell did he learn Kage Bunshin No Justu?'_ "Naru-chan where did you learn that move and why haven't you used it before when we were training?"

He rubbed the back of his head again while saying "Well you see…."

(Flashback 6 months ago on Naruto's Birthday)

Anko had just finished up one of Naruto's training sessions when she asked him a question "Hey gaki how many Ninjustu skills do you have?"

"Well all Kaasan has taught me is Kawarimi, Henge, and Bunshin No Justu, aside from that just some medial justu. Why?"

"Well I thought I would give you a special justu for your birthday present. It's called Kage Bunshin No Justu." said Anko with a grin on her face.

"But Anko-neechan I already know a Bunshin justu." said an annoyed Naruto.

Hitting him on his head Anko responses "It's not a regular Bunshin gaki this justu creates solid clones not just illusions but the best part of all is that when you dispel them that you gain all of there experience. Meaning you could use this justu to learn at an incredible rate."

Naruto's eyes got real wide hearing this and said "Awesome I can use those clone for all sort of sneak attacks when I get into a real fight. Hurry up Neechan, I want to learn this justu before we go and meet back up with Kaasan and Shizune-neechan."

Anko couldn't help but smile at her otouto's enthusiasm at wanting to learn a new justu. "All right gaki here's how it done."

(End flashback)

"…and that's how I learned it Kaasan." said Naruto.

Tsunade just shook her head after hearing Naruto explanation "Why am I not surprised. Anyway now why don't you tell me why you haven't used it before now?"

"Well I don't like to use it when I'm learning something new it just feels like I'm cheating or something, but I do use it when I want to refine any of skills."

"Then why are you using it to learn this technique?"

"Since my ramen is at stake here, I'll use everything at my disposal to win." Said all five Naruto's as they started to train.

As Tsunade watched him train she started to regret ever making this bet. _'I have a feeling that I'm going to have a rough week after this is over. When we get back I'll just have to drink my fill till then, but if he can master this then I think it's time for him to learn some of my more advanced techniques.'_

Tsunade feeling turned out to be true as Naruto mastered the control exercise, winning the bet and teaching Tsunade to never bet against him. After a miserable week with out her sake Tsunade finally decided to teach Naruto how to summon.

As Naruto was signing the Slug contract, Shizune decided to talk to Tsunade about this. "Tsunade-sama do you think he ready for this, I mean he is still just a kid after all."

"You worry too much Shizune, trust me if he can master the peddle exercise in three days he'll be able to do this easily." said a proud Tsunade.

"But still don't you think your giving him to much power for his age?"

"That's enough Shizune, he'll be fine. Have faith in him, we raised him better than to let it go to his head."

"I know but…" Shizune never got to finish that sentence as they felt Naruto building up his chakra.

After Naruto finished signing the contract, he bit his thumb and went through the hand seals that his Kaasan showed him, before slamming his hand into the ground while saying "KUCHIYOSE NO JUTSU!"

When the smoke cleared the same slug that delivered the messages to Anko all those years ago, was before Naruto.

"**Impressive Naruto-sama to be able to summon me on your first try, you are definitely someone my mistress Katsuyu will want to keep an eye on." **said the slug before disappearing in a puff of smoke.

Naruto just stared at the spot where the slug had been before saying, "Wait don't I even get to say hello?"

Tsunade started to laugh at the events that had just transpired. "You'll have to forgive Kamikeo for her abruptness it's just in her nature to report directly to Katsuyu when she finds something of interest." _'If he's already able to get to this level in his summoning, than I think I'll have him figure out how to use my super strength on his own, with just a couple of hints along the way.'_

Shizune for her part was just in a state of shock _'Naruto-kun was able to summon a slug of that size on is first attempt?'_ turning her head to look at Naruto walking over to them, just giving one of his foxy grins while he has both hands behind his headshe could only think _'I see what Tsunade-sama meant now, no matter how much power he acquires, it doesn't change him at all. It's like he was always meant to have it.'_

(Time skip)

It's been one year since Naruto learned to summon and his progress with Tsunade's super strength technique has been slow. Even with Tsunade's hint it has taken him this long to get the basics of using his chakra to heighten his strength.

I fact this is what we find Naruto working on right now, he is standing on the water in the middle of a lake with Shizune by the shoreline leaning against a tree trunk reading a book, with her pet Ton-Ton sleeping beside her. While Tsunade is in town taking care of her business.

Naruto was staring at one of the pebbles in his hand trying to figure out how to use his chakra to enhance his strength so he can imbed the pebble into the tree trunk that Shizune was leaning against.He starts to channel his chakra while thinking, _'Lets see if I can control my chakra enough to enhance and strengthen my muscles to do this.'_ Naruto takes aim and flicks the pebble toward the shore.

Shizune was really enjoying the book she was reading when she suddenly felt something wiz past her head and then she heard a cracking sound behind her. Turning her head to look at what caused the noise; looking at the tree she sees a small pebble embedded into the bark. Shizune looked back over at Naruto to see him jumping up and down in joy; she then looked back at the tree trunk. _'Did Naruto-kun figure out how to do it already?' _"N-Naruto-kun, how did you do that?"

Before Naruto could answer clapping could be hear as Tsunade came walking up to the to tree trunk. "Well done Naru-chan, looks like you were finally able to figure out the basics for my strength. I'm impressed it took Shizune about a year and a half before she figured it out. Now we can focus of strengthening it and making it a permanent and we will also work on how to meditate, because I think it's time that you learn how to access Kyuubi's Chakra."

Over the next few months Naruto had a hard time learning how to meditate, the main reason for this was his mind was always on alert, even tough he's been with Tsunade and Shizune for more than five years he still had a hard time letting his defenses down. When Tsunade found out about this, she couldn't help but feel sorry for Naruto and her anger toward what Konoha has done to him would grow.

As time pasted Tsunade did everything she could to help Naruto realize that he no longer had to keep his defenses all the time. Then one day as Naruto was trying to meditate he heard what sounded like a low growl. Opening his eyes, he was surprised to find himself in what looked like a sewer.

Naruto lowered his head and just sighed _'Great, just great, I guess this gives new meaning to the saying having your mind in the gutter.'_

After hearing another growl echo through the corridors, Naruto just shrugged his shoulders and thought _'Might as well follow the sound.'_ as he headed down the corridor. Eventually he came before a large gate with a paper that had 'Seal' written on it.

Two big glowing red eyes can be seen behind the gate as a loud voice says **"So my jailor has decided to grace me with his presence."** as a giant fox comes out of the shadows behind the gate.

Naruto's eyes narrow at the fox as he says "So you're the Great Kyuubi I've read so much about. You're also the cause of all the hatred I got while I lived in Konoha."

Kyuubi mentally flinched at the last comment before saying **"Don't believe everything you read kit. You might be surprised by what you find."**

Naruto raised an eyebrow and said "And what would surprise me?"

Kyuubi get a smile on its face as it says **"Well for starters this." **Then the giant fox starts to transform into it human appearance. The first thing Naruto noticed as the Kyuubi came into view was the fact that the great demon fox was in fact a woman, and a beautiful one at that with shoulder length blood red hair, she was wearing a red battle kimono with a navy blue sash around her waist, black shinobi style pants with white rapping around her shins and a black pair of shinobi sandals.

Naruto had to admit that his was indeed surprised, none of the text he read about the Kyuubi ever mentioned that the demon fox was in fact a girl.

Kyuubi couldn't help but laugh at the look of shock on Naruto's face. After she calmed down she got a sad look on her face before saying "Look Kit I just want to say that I'm sorry for how your life has been like before you met that Tsunade person. I'm not asking for forgiveness or any thing like that, and I can understand if you hate me, but I just wanted you to know that's all."

If Naruto was shocked before he was totally floored by that statement. _'What the hell? I figured that Kyuubi would be a bloodthirsty monster or something_. _If she's being honest with me than who knows what else about her has been misleading.'_

After recovering from his shock Naruto decided to ask "Look there's nothing to forgive, you weren't responsible for the treatment I received when I lived in Konoha, and anyway I have a couple of questions. First would have to be why did you attack Konoha in the first place? The second would have to be why everyone always refers to you as a bloodthirsty monster?"

Kyuubi was surprised by the fact that Naruto didn't blame her for what happened to him. Then she heard his questions and she sighed before saying "I'm not ready to talk about why I attacked Konoha yet kit but I will tell you that I had my reasons."

"Fair enough I guess but when you're ready I would like to know."

"Fine" Kyuubi sad before she got a smile on her face and continued "Now about your second question, I've been around for thousands of years kit so naturally I've gotten a reputation for being a bit aggressive when I get mad."

"A bit aggressive? If I believe what I've read, YOU'VE LEVELED ENTIRE CITIES FOR CRYING OUT LOUD!"

Kyuubi gets a sheepish smile on her face and uses her right index finger to scratch her cheek before saying "Well you know what they say 'hell hath no fury like a woman scorn'"

Naruto just stared at her for a second before saying "You have got to be kidding me; you're telling me that you leveled those cities because someone pissed you off?"

Kyuubi just shrugged her shoulders and Naruto brought his hand up to his lowered head and started to shake it back and forth "Unbelievable, remind me to never get on your bad side Baa-Chan."

A vain started to pulse on Kyuubi's forehead as she clenched her fist and yelled "I'm not old!"

"But you said that you've been around for thousand of years, so you must be really old Kyuubi-Obaachan."

Kyuubi just sweat dropped after hearing that, and then she just shook her head and decided to get to the point. "Look kit; let's just get back to the original reason that you came here ok. That being you want to gain access to my chakra correct."

Naruto just nods his head and lets her continue.

"I've seen how your training has been going and I must say that I'm impressed. So I've decided that along with giving you access to my chakra, when I deem it necessary, I'll also be training you in the art of Genjustu."

Naruto was completely surprised by this, and he couldn't help but ask this question "Why are you offering to help train me?"

"Consider it an apology for all the pain my coming to Konoha has caused you." said Kyuubi with a sad smile.

After thinking about it Naruto could see no cons for taking up her offer. "Alright I agree to your offer besides my Genjustu need a lot of work anyways."

With the two of them coming to an agreement Naruto returns to the real world, where he is greeted by a concerned Tsunade and Shizune. After explaining what just happened and his talk with Kyuubi, Tsunade reluctantly agreed with Naruto's decision with the condition that Naruto will tell her everything that Kyuubi teaches him.

(Time skip)

So over the next four years Naruto's skill improves with Tsunade and Shizune helping him with Medical justu and Taijustu, Anko's help in Ninjustu, weapons and speed, and Kyuubi helps him with Genjustu and also giving him tips on how to increase his speed.

Naruto's appearance has changed over the years, he let his hair grow a little longer (about the yondaime hair length with the hair on the back of his head being a little long to put it in a low ponytail), a fishnet shirt with an orange sleeveless battle robe, a blue sash around his waste, black ANBU style pants with white shin guards, and your standard shinobi footwear.

Now we find Naruto celebrating his fourteenth birthday at a ramen shop with Tsunade, Shizune and Anko. As he opened the gift Anko got him he was happy to get a tan trench coat that looked just like Anko's.

Naruto put on the trench coat and then got a smile on his face and said "Perfect fit, thanks Anko-neechan I've been thinking about getting one for a while now. How did you know?"

Anko just gives a quick glance over toward Tsunade and ruffled his hair before saying "I have my sources gaki I'm just glad you like it."

Naruto pushes Anko's hand off his head while saying "Stop that Anko-neechan I'm not a little kid anymore you know."

The group just laughed at Naruto's antics, he opened Shizune gift next only to find a brand new kunai and shuriken set.

"Thanks Shizune-neechan I've been needing a new set my old one is starting to get a little worn down."

Shizune just smiled and said "You're welcome, Naruto-kun."

After Naruto finished putting his new weapons away Tsunade walks up to him looks him in the eye._ 'Kami please let this feeling I have be right. It just feels like he should have this.' _Tsunade reaches behind her neck and takes off her necklace.

"Naru-chan I want to give you this." says Tsunade as she places the necklace around his neck overtop the necklace that Anko gave him on his fifth birthday.

Naruto widen his eyes in shock, knowing full well the story behind it. "Kaasan I'm not little anymore you don't have to call me that anymore, and besides this belonged to great-grandfather as well as…." he looked down and let the sentence drag out.

Tsunade just smiled and said "You'll always be my little Naru-chan." causing Naruto to pout a little.

Shizune decided to ask "Tsunade-sama why?"

Tsunade looked reflective as she said "Watching Naru-chan's training over the years got me to thinking about it, and you know what it just felt like the right thing to do."

Hearing the tone in Tsunade's voice Shizune and Naruto knew not to press the issue. Naruto just looks down at the necklace before smiling up at Tsunade and said "Thanks Kaasan I promise to take good care of it, and prove to you that your feeling was right."

Just as Naruto finished his sentence a voice saying "Tsunade!" was heard from the front door of the shop. Tsunade turned her head toward the door only to see the one person she was not expecting to see the only word to escape her lips was "Jiraiya?! What are you doing here?"

Naruto looked over a the door to see a man with white spiky hair made up in a ponytail a headband with the kanji for oil on it a scroll on his back, with a green robe and pants with a red vest. His only response was to ask "Kaasan who is this guy?"

Before Tsunade could answer Jiraiya goes into one of his introductions by hopping around on one foot, one arm stretched out and the other behind his head. He starts to say "I'M KNOWN AS THE GREAT TOAD SAGE BUT THAT IS JUST AN ALIAS. NORTH, SOUTH, EAST, AND WEST! I AM THE TOAD……" Tsunade comes up behind Jiraiya and hit's him in the head "Cut the theatrics Jiraiya!"

Jiraiya rubs the back of his head as he says "Man Tsu-hime is that anyway to greet an old friend." Jiraiya then notices the boy that is with Tsunade and his eyes widen in shock _'It can't be, I was told he was dead.'_ getting a serious look on his face he points to Naruto and asks "Tsunade is that who I think it is?"

Tsunade got a worried look on her face before asking "And who do you think he is?"

"Cut the crap Tsunade! The look on your face tells me that I'm right, he's Naruto Uzumaki isn't he?"

This causes everyone in the group to stop what they were doing and look over at Jiraiya. Tsunade gives him a harsh glare and responds with "And what if he is?"

"Well first off I would like to know how he is still alive and how he came to be with you."

So Tsunade reluctantly told Jiraiya the story of there first meeting and her taking him on as her son and apprentice, getting in contact with Anko, and all the training he's done. By the end of the story Jiraiya couldn't help but feel a mixture of anger and happiness for everything that has happened to the boy.

Tsunade had to ask "So now that you know the whole story what do you plan to do now?"

Jiraiya thought about it for a while before raising his fist in the air and saying "Right now nothing besides it looks like I interrupted a party so let's get back to it."

So they resumed the party for awhile before it was staring to get late, at the end of the party Tsunade takes Jiraiya outside so they can have a private conversation.

"Alright Jiraiya what are you really planning to do about my son?"

Jiraiya just looks at her before sighing "Look Tsu-hime I really don't plan on doing anything about him, I mean he really does seem to be happy here. But you can't really blame him, I mean he's surrounded by beautiful woman twenty four-seven, man some people have all the luck."

Tsunade just shook her head "I see you haven't changed. Anyway since we ran into each other there is something I want to ask you. Can you look into what the seal on Anko is really supposed to do?"

This caught Jiraiya's attention "What exactly do you mean by that?"

"Well a few years ago someone told Anko that she was no threat to them because of the seal that she has, so I've been trying to find out what this person meant by that. I haven't been able to found out anything out on my own."

"So you would like me to look into it huh?" He thinks about it for a minute before saying "I'll help you out Tsu-hime, I can't just leave someone to Orochimaru's twisted plans now can I?"

Tsunade let out a sigh of relief before looking back at Jiraiya "There's just one more favor I need to ask, and that is could you keep the fact that Naruto is still alive to yourself. I don't want anyone that wants to harm him to find out he's still alive."

"Fine I'll keep your secret for a now, but you have to realize that you can't keep it a secret forever. They will find out eventually you know." Jiraiya said in a serious voice.

Tsunade puts her head down and says "I know Jiraiya but when that time comes I want him to be ready. I want Konoha to realize what a mistake it was to just throw him away like that. Jiraiya it pains me to ask this as well but do you think you could help Naru-chan with his Ninjustu skills, Anko-san has already taught him some Justus but she doesn't want to teach him any of Orochimaru's Justus."

"Let me think about it ok. You know I said I wouldn't train anybody else after 'he' died."

Tsunade just nods and then returns to the party leaving Jiraiya to his thoughts. _'Man when Sarutobi-Sensei asked me to keep track of Anko to see if she had become a threat to the village, I didn't expect to find this.' _He looks up at the night sky and sighs _'Sorry Tsu-hime but I will have to tell him that Anko meets up with you and your new family, so he knows that Anko isn't going to betray us, but I won't tell him that the boy is Naruto. Though he may figure it out.'_ Then he too goes to rejoin the party.

Next Chapter: Journey to the Land of Waves

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Author's note2: Well there's Chapter 3 I hope it wasn't to boring. But just to let you know Jiraiya will be training Naruto a little later in the story.

On another note do you think Naruto should have more than one girl? I really haven't decided yet. So let me know.


	5. Chapter 5:Journey to The Land of Waves

-1

"Speech"

'_Thoughts'_

**Demon/Summon/inner Sakura speech**

_**Demon/Summon thoughts**_

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or any of the characters created by Kishimoto

mortalone: No worries I always welcome constructive criticism, it's the only way I'll improve, and as for your observation about Naruto and Kyuubi, the truth is your right, during that interaction he didn't see her as a grandma figure yet. Starting in this chapter you will see that they are already starting to have that relationship and I'm hoping to develop it further as the story progresses.

Felixgi: Naruto will return for the Chunin Exams I've got an idea on how to do this to, but you'll just have to wait till I get there (don't want to reveal to much right now).

tgobg: That's about the skill level he is at right now; It will increase as the story progresses.

SCAR OF THE BLACK RIGHT HAND: The answer to your question is yes he will, and it will be after the Wave Arc but before the Chunin Exams.

Author's note: Now as for the harem/no harem issue I've decided that Naruto will be with one girl with a possible love triangle (not to sure about this yet).

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Chapter 5: Journey to the Land of Waves

(Hokage Tower)

Sarutobi is currently sitting at his deck sorting through today's mission requests when his thought drift back to the report that Jiraiya gave him six months ago. He was relieved to discover that Anko was just meeting up with Tsunade when she would leave the village, but what really surprised him was the fact that his old student had apparently adopted a young boy and taken him under her wing.

What was really bugging Sarutobi was that even Anko seemed attached to the boy, according to the report she even got him a birthday present. That's when it finally hit him, that this boy's birthday fell around the same time as Naruto's and the description of the boy was similar to what Naruto might look like if he lived to that age.

'_Could this boy be Naruto? It makes since, but how did he survive? From the amount of blood in that alley there's no way he survived, and yet this boy's description is very similar. Though Jiraiya did refuse to tell me anything about him, beyond the fact that he has blue eyes and blond hair.'_ Coming out of his thoughts Sarutobi just sighed and decided to drop the matter there was proof that it was him anyway, and if it was really Naruto than he was happy that the boy finally found people how care about him, and if it wasn't than no need to disrupt his life any further.

Clearing his head from this line of thought Sarutobi went back to reading the mission requests and found a C ranked bodyguard mission. He thought would be perfect for Kakashi's team even though he was a member short, but he had a solution for that as he went through the available genin until he came across one person who's other team members had clan business and would be unable to do missions for a little while. Sarutobi sat back in his chair with a smile on his face thinking about how this mission will help her out.

(On a boat heading to The Land of Waves)

We find Naruto, Tsunade, and Shizune on the deck of the boat looking out at the fog covered water. While Naruto looks over the edge of the boat Tsunade turns to Shizune and says "Remind me again, why are we on this boat heading to The Land of Waves?"

Shizune lowered her head and let out a sigh "Don't you remember Tsunade-sama, because Naruto-kun paid off that huge debt you racked up in the last village you said he could choose our next destination." _'I just wish I knew were he got the money from.'_

Tsunade thought about it for a second before saying "Oh yeah" she then proceeded to get a big grin on her face before picking up Ton-Ton and saying "Well no use worrying about it now, we'll just have to enjoy ourselves."

As the boat got closer to land a huge bridge that was under construction came into view. Naruto just looked up at the imposing structure in wonder and said "Wow."

"**I couldn't agree more kit, that structure is indeed impressive."**

Naruto just shook his head as he heard Kyuubi's voice, even after four years he was still not use to hearing her voice in his head. _'I still can't believe that the seal was designed to let you have a connection to the outside would through my senses, and even aloud us to communicate like this Baa-chan.'_

Kyuubi shook her head before she let out a small laugh **"You would think that after all these years you would at least call me Nee-chan, anyway I was just as surprised as you were to find out that the seal aloud this to happen. It makes me wonder if that Yondaime of yours knew I would help train you, because it's defiantly easier this way don't you think?"**

'_You could be right but that would mean he knew about your true nature and at least suspected what your reason was for attacking Konoha. Which by the way Baa-chan, you still haven't told me yet.'_

Kyuubi remained silent after that, and Naruto understood not to press the matter any further.

Tsunade noticed Naruto staring off into space and realized that he must be talking to Kyuubi. She still couldn't believe how close Naruto seems to have gotten with Kyuubi, I mean after they first met Naruto just treated her like he would anyone but over the years Tsunade could tell that Naruto had started to think of her as a real Obaa-chan. Tsunade still found it funny that the great Kyuubi was being called old by a young boy.

After they boat docked and everyone disembarked Tsunade decided that they should find an Inn first. So we find the trio walking down one of the streets, Naruto couldn't help but notice the suffering and poverty of the city.

"Kaasan do you think that all of wave is like this?" asked Naruto.

Tsunade had a sad expression on her face from seeing the poor conditions around her before saying "I don't know Naru-chan but we'll worry about that after we find a place to stay."

Right after Tsunade finished talking a scream could be heard in the alley way up ahead, before Tsunade and Shizune could react to the scream, Naruto was already running into the alley way to see what was going on.

As Naruto entered the alley way he saw two men cornering a woman who was holding a bag of groceries. Naruto heard one of the men say "So you tell that old man to stop his construction or we can't guarantee you or that kid of yours safety."

After he said that the man went to put a knife to her throat to emphasize his point when a hand grabbed his wrist. looking over the man saw a young boy with blond hair.

"It's no very nice to threaten someone how can't defend themselves you know." said Naruto as he tightened his grip on the man's wrist causing him to drop the blade.

The man backed away from Naruto glaring at him while he rubbed his wrist. "Look you little shit don't go getting yourself involved in stuff that is over your head."

The second man pulled out his own knife before adding "Besides if you play with fire and your going to get burned, so just walk away."

Naruto just looked at the two of them with a bored expression before saying "Look if you don't leave this lady alone I'm going to have to stop you, and let me give you a little warning I'm a lot stronger than I look ok." as he walks over to a piece of rubble that is in the alley way and uses his fist to completely destroy it.

Both men just gap at this before saying "W-W-What ever you say kid." and quickly running out of the alley passing by Tsunade and Shizune as the make it to the entrance.

After seeing those two men run past them Tsunade and Shizune look down the alley to see Naruto checking on a young woman how was just attacked.

"Are you ok miss?" asked Naruto as he helped her pick up her groceries that had fallen out during the encounter.

The woman moved her hair out of her face as she looked up at the boy how had helped her and said "I'm alright, by the way thank you for saving me from those to men; I don't know want would have happened if you hadn't come along."

"That's alright you don't need to thank me I just can't stand to see people suffer thats all. Oh my name Naruto and these two people are Tsunade-Kaasan and Shizune-neechan." said Naruto as he pointed to the two ladies coming into the alley.

"Oh where are my manners my name is Tsunami and I just want to thank you all for your concern." said Tsunami as she bowed at Tsunade and Shizune.

Tsunade walks up to Naruto and starts to rub his head while she says "No need to thank us we just happened to be passing by as we searched for an inn."

Tsunami got a smile on her face after hearing this and said "Why don't you stay at my house it use to be an inn so there is plenty of room just think of this a my way of repaying you."

Tsunade was never one to pass up anything free readily agrees to the lodging arrangements, and the group head over to Tsunami's home. Along the way Naruto had to ask "Tsunami-san has Wave always been like this?"

Tsunami got a sad look on her face and said "No it wasn't always like this, Wave use to be a happy and prosperous place until a man called Gato started to buy up all of the shipping companies."

Tsunade's eyes widened at this and said "Gato as in the big shipping tycoon, not to mention he has a whole bunch of illegal gambling halls and how knows what else."

"You're right Tsunade-san but that's not all aside from that he is a big time underworld figure and will use any means necessary to get what he wants."

Tsunade looked over at Tsunami with a sad expression "Sounds like you know this from personal experience."

Tsunami just lowered her head before saying "I don't want to talk about it."

Understanding what she meant Tsunade just left it at that, and dropped the subject. When they arrived at Tsunami's home a small boy ran out to meet his mother.

"Kaasan what took you so long?" said the boy as he noticed Naruto, Tsunade, and Shizine and got a scowl on his face. "and who are this people?"

Tsunami got a smile on her face and knelt down to face him and said "Don't worry Inari these people saved me from some bad men earlier and I offered them a place to stay."

Inari just looked at the group and scoffed "What you guys think you're some kind of heroes or something? Well I've got news for you THERE'S NO SUCH THING AS HEROS!" and then he just ran back into the house.

"What the hell was that about?" asked a confused Naruto.

Tsunami got a sad expression on her face but before she could say anything Tsunade spoke up "Just let it go Naru-chan, it's none of our business anyway."

Naruto remained quite after that but he was thinking _'Just let it go? What the hell does Kaasan know that I don't? What do you think Baa-chan?'_

"**I think that Tsunade is right kit, it looks like this is a touchy subject with them. It's best to just let it go for now and let them tell you when there ready."**

'_Alright I'll drop it for now but he better not act like that all the time though.'_

Later that evening we find Tsunami cooking everyone dinner while Naruto and Tsunade are sitting at the table playing cards, with Shizune close by drinking some tea, and Inari is closely watching them.

As Naruto was looking at his cards the front door opened Tsunade looked over to see five people come in, one was and older man with a straw hat a dirty whit shirt and pants, this man was carrying a sake bottle as well, Tsunade froze when she saw the rest of the group one was a girl with long dark with a baggy jacket and black biker pants, the other girl had pink hair wearing a red dress and had black biker shorts, the young boy had black hair and a blue high collar shirt and grey shorts, who was carrying the one that really caught her eye was the man that had silver hair that seemed to defy gravity and was wearing a standard Jonin outfit with his left eye covered by his headband her only thoughts were _'Kakashi what the hell are you doing here?'_

Kakashi looked around the room when his eye settled on the group of people sitting at the table, when he saw Tsunade his eye widened. _'Tsunade-sama! What could you be doing here?'_

Kakashi was not the only one to notice Tsunade's presence, the girl wearing the red dress was wondering the same thing, but her thoughts were broken when she heard Tsunade speak.

"What the hell are you doing here Kakashi?" Tsunade said in a cold tone.

Kakashi was a little surprised by the clod tone in her voice, just responded in a calm voice "Me and my team consisting Sakura (he points to the girl in the red dress), this years rookie of the year Sasuke Uchiha (points to the boy in the blue shirt)" Hearing that name cause Tsunade and Shizune to stiffen slightly. Kakashi continues with the introductions "and this is Hinata (points to the dark haired girl poking her index fingers together), she's our temporary member for this mission."

'_So that's Sasuke, the one that Itachi let live.'_ thought Tsunade as she looked over at Sasuke.

After hearing the introductions Naruto finally looks up from his cards and surveys the new comers. When he sees the symbol on there headbands he stiffens slightly and hears Kyuubi growling. _'So there from Konoha,_ _huh? I wonder what there here for? By the looks of the silver haired guy I say they were in a fight a little while ago. What do you think Baa-chan?'_

Kyuubi just studies Kakashi before answering **"You're right kit and from the looks of it, it was an intense battle to. That Jonin has used up a lot of chakra."**

Naruto just nods his head before looking back at his cards while offhandedly saying "You really should get that Kakashi guy to a bed. He looks like he suffering from a case of Chakra exhaustion."

Tsunade was surprised by Naruto's reaction, he showed a lot of self control just now, and his diagnosis of Kakashi was right on the money, a feeling of pride came over Tsunade.

Sasuke just grunted and said "Heh, like a loser like you would know what he's talking about. I mean you're not even a shinobi."

Tsunade narrows her eyes and glares at Sasuke while thinking _'Idiot'. _

Shizune just looks at the group and shakes her head; she couldn't believe what she just heard.

In her cage Kyuubi's growl got even louder **"Come on kit show this bastard he doesn't know what he's talking about!"**

Ignoring Kyuubi's comment Naruto grips his cards tighter and looks over at Sasuke to see a smug look on his face then reply's "I see Konoha hasn't changed at all."

This comment shocked the group from Konoha, how could this kid talk about there home like he's been there before. Kakashi took a closer look at this teen and his eye got even wider when he saw blond spiky hair, blue eyes and whisker like marks on his cheeks. _'It can't be there's no way he could have survived that much blood loss!'_

While Kakashi was having a hard to believing that the boy in front of him was Naruto, Sakura got really mad at the callous way this boy talked about her home she yells "What's that suppose to mean?!" **Yeah Who does this idiot think he is anyway cha!**

Naruto showing no reaction to hostility shown him simply focuses on Sakura and says "It means Konoha is still full of ignorance when it comes to anything other than there own concerns."

Sasuke to this as a direct insult to himself and his clan retaliates with "What right do you have to just show up and tell us that we're ignorant, I've never even seen you in Konoha before, so how would you know what life is like there? The fact that you're not even a shinobi means that you're the one who's ignorant."

Naruto just shakes his head and lets out a little chuckle before saying "And you call me ignorant, first off Konoha is a big place so it's possible to live in that place and never meet someone. Second you know nothing about me so don't go making snap decisions about someone it will get you killed."

Naruto places his cards on the table and stands up. He looks over at Tsunade before saying "Sorry Kaasan but I don't feel like playing anymore so it looks like you win this game. If you need me I'll be on the roof."

After Naruto leaves Shizune look over at Tsunade who just nods her head. Shizune takes this signal and goes to talk to Naruto.

Seeing Shizune leave Kakashi looks back over at Tsunade, who just took a sip of sake, and said "That was Naruto Uzumaki wasn't it?"

Tsunade's eyes widen before turning her head back to the sake bottle on the table her only thought was _'Did Jiraiya tell them that Naru-chan was alive?' _"How'd you know?"

As Sasuke help Kakashi over to a bed his only response was "His birthmarks I could never forget those whisker marks."

This caused Tsunade to let out a sigh of relief. _'So it looks like Jiraiya keep his word after all, but now that Kakashi knows it won't be long before Sarutobi-sensei find out.'_

We find Naruto lying on the roof with his hands behind his head looking up at the evening shy.

"**You know kit I think you were too soft on them, if it was me I would have made them pay for insulting me like that." **said Kyuubi.

'_It a good thing I'm not you then Baa-chan. If I had done that then who knows what Konoha's reaction would be. I mean not only would they find out that I'm alive but that I was responsible for putting one of there shinobi in the hospital, they would probable make sure I was dead this time, not to mention the danger that would put Kaasan and Shizune-neechan in.'_

Just as Naruto finished that line of thought Shizune sat down next to him and asked "Mind if I join you?"

Naruto looks over at Shizune and just nods; he doesn't feel like talking right now. After a while Shizune decides to break the silence.

"So Naruto-kun…, I'm really proud of how you handled yourself in there, but how do you feel about seeing people from Konoha again?"

Naruto just continues to look at the sky and says "Honestly I don't know how to feel right now. Part of me hates that place for what it did to me back then, all the beatings and hatred I received was really ruff, then came the murder attempts it's not something I can just forget, but there's another part of me that's grateful it all happened too."

Shizune just looked at Naruto in shock "What do you mean a part of you is grateful? They put you through hell and you're happy about that?"

"I'm not happy about the hell they put me through but if it wasn't for them than I don't think I ever would have met you or Kaasan. I never would have known what it was like to have a family." said Naruto as he stared off into the night sky.

Shizune got a smile on her face. _'So Naruto-kun isn't happy about what they put him through but by the fact that he was able to finally get a family.'_

Shizune put her hand on Naruto's shoulder and says "Come on Naruto-kun it's starting to get chilly out here so why don't we go back inside and I'll make you a cup of tea."

"That sound good Shizune-neechan." said Naruto as they both got up and headed back inside. Both of them failed to notice a person sitting behind the chimney with her legs against her chest.

Hinata just sat there for a while thinking about what she just heard Naruto and Shizune talk about. _'So he did live in Konoha for a while, and his life was filled with nothing but pain, lonely ness and people always putting him down. He's just like me, but I wasn't strong enough to come through it like he was.'_ Hinata then hugged her legs even tighter wishing that she was stronger.

(Gato's Hideout)

Gato had just finished hearing his two thugs excuse for failing to intimidate the bridge builder's daughter, and about the young boy who stopped them.

"You two are completely useless if you're unable to stop a kid from save that builder's daughter. What do you think I'm paying you for anyway!?"

One of the men got on his knees and said "But boss you've got to understand this is no normal kid I mean he was able to turn a big piece of rubble into nothing but dust with just one punch."

This caught the attention of one Zabuza Momochi and his follower Haku. Zabuza wanted to know more about this boy, but he was still injured from his fight with Kakashi so he was unable to go look into this matter himself. Before he could offer Haku's assistance Gato spoke.

"Well then I'll just have to send someone to see if this kid really is a threat to my plans. Shadow come out here."

A figure came out of the shadows wearing a black clock and hood that covered their face and the part of the face that was visible was cover up by a face mask. "What is it you want Gato?"

Gato just glared at him and said "Don't talk to me like I'm some punk. You work for me don't ever forget that. I want you to go and check on this kid my men were talking about and see if he is a threat to me understood."

Shadow just looked at Gato and said "Sure why not, if this kid is anything like they say then things could get interesting around here."

Next chapter: Encounter in the Woods

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Authors note2: Well that was chapter 5 hope you liked it. Just to let you know Haku and Naruto will meet in the next chapter, and Haku will be a female in this fic.


	6. Chapter 6:Encounter in the woods

-1

"Speech"

'_Thoughts'_

**Demon/Summon/inner Sakura speech**

_**Demon/Summon thoughts**_

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or any of the characters created by Kishimoto

mortalone: I forgot to tell you in my reply the main reason he's at wave is to meet Zabuza and Haku, I felt it was the best place for it as well as starting Naruto reputation he will have in this story. What better way to introduce yourself to the Shinobi world as a fighter and a healer than to help save a poverty ridden nation.

Archmagelite2000yrs: as for your question the OC will become a little more prominent in future chapters as well as being responsible for introducing other characters.

BlackRosex: as for your question they will become close as the story progresses.

TheDon1023: as for them not noticing Hinata, it's not that they didn't notice her it's just that they didn't care if she heard what they were talking about (That's why they didn't refer to the Kyuubi or the seal in there conversation), as for Hinata falling in love with him, right now she will be developing a sort of admiration/hero worship towards Naruto and start to strive to become a stronger person like Naruto. (Remember in this fic Naruto was never there to inspire her when they were younger so she thinks herself a failure)

S-Wanderer999: I really can't tell you right know, all I can say is that he will be revealed later in the story.

Authors note: I thought I would let you all know that Naruto will not be returning to Konoha until the Chunin Exams and even then it will be to just take the exams (he has no reason to stay in Konoha ) anyway a good point has been brought up about the future Godaime, and their right Tsunade would not become a leader of a place that is trying to kill her son.(remember Tsunade was already bitter toward Konoha before she meet Naruto and afterward it only depended) and I have an idea about who it will be as well.

Anyway on with the story

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Chapter 6: Encounter in the Woods

It has been a few day's since Naruto's encounter with Team 7 and Tsunade has decided to let him let of some steam with a little spar with Shizune. So we find Naruto, Tsunade, and Shizune in a clearing deep in the woods around Tazuna's house.

"Alright, the rules are simple, first, the fight ends when I say so, second, there is to be no Genejustu, or Ninjustu, I don't want a certain shinobi, copying any justu." said Tsunade.

Naruto just looked at his Kaasan with a questioning look "Kaasan, when you say 'copying any jutsu' do you mean the Sharingan you told me about?"

Tsunade inwardly cursed herself for saying that out loud. She didn't want Naruto to find out what the Sharingan looked like just yet. Tsunade lets out a sigh and answers "Well, yes Naru-chan, as you know it has the ability , to analyze any justu that they see, and copy it perfectly."

Naruto get a scowl on his face and says "That still sounds like cheating to me, if you learn it that way, then you might not be able to fully understand it's strength's, or it's weaknesses, and by the way you still haven't told me what it looks like Kaasan"

Tsunade started to laugh, Naruto already understood the Sharigan's weakness. If one doesn't take the time to fully understand the justu than you will never use it to it's full potential. "That's right Naru-chan, gaining a justu that way, is kind of like cheating, because your not doing any of the work, required to fully understand the technique. Now let's get this spar started."

Naruto was frustrated that his Kaasan didn't answer him, so he just nodded and got into his fighting stance, while Shizune go ready as well. Tsunade looked at both of them and then shouted "BEGIN!". Naruto decided to start off by throwing some shuriken at Shizune, while she was dodging them Naruto went around behind her and tried to kick her in the head. Shizune ducked at the last second and went for a sweep, which Naruto jumped over.

"Sorry Nee-chan but you're not going to get me that easily." said Naruto as he came in with a heel drop.

Shizune got out of the way just in time to see a big crater form when Naruto's heel made contact with the ground. Shizune just look at the crater and thought _'If Naruto-kun is going to use his strength than I'll have to take this seriously.'_ as she readies herself for his next attack.

In another part of the forest Kakashi had team 7 working on there chakra control by practicing tree walking when all of a sudden the ground shook. Looking around he spotted dust above the tree line just north of his position. Deciding that they should go investigate Kakashi called his team over and the headed off in that direction.

When they reached the clearing Kakashi was surprised to find Tsunade watching a fight between Naruto and Shizune. Kakashi was shocked to see Naruto clinging to tree's as he dodged some of Shizune's attacks. _'Naruto's clinging to the tree's like it's second nature to him.' _Kakashi looks over at a smiling Tsunade and wonders _'Just how much have you taught him Tsunade-sama?'_

Sasuke was really pissed off as he watched Naruto's spar. His pride was having a hard time believing that this loser was better than him, even if he was trained by Tsunade of the Sannin. As Sasuke continued to watch the fight he couldn't help but think _'Where did that loser get this power? I'm an Uchiha, one of the elite clans of Konoha, if anyone deserves to have that kind of power, it should be me not some loser who isn't even a shinobi.'_

The only thoughts going through the mind of Sakura while she watched the spar were _'This kid is good, but Sasuke-kun was still better.' _

As Hinata watched the spar, she just stood there staring in awe. She couldn't believe how strong Naruto was, Hinata watched as Shizune was able to kick Naruto in the stomach, sending him flying through a tree and hit the ground.

Shizune landed five feet from where Naruto hit the ground. She was a little worried that maybe she hit him to hard, she didn't mean to send him flying through the tree and into the ground. As the debris from the tree landed on the ground, Naruto got to his feet and wiped the blood from his lip.

Naruto looked at Shizune and smiled before saying "Not bad Neechan you manage to bust my lip there."

Shizune just shook her head in disbelief, "Even if I ask you to surrender, you won't , will you Naruto-kun?"

Naruto's smile got bigger as he said "He, He, He, you got that right Neechan. I never give up, it's one of the reasons, I've lived so long."

When Hinata heard those words, her eyes widened as a new since of purpose fill her, as she decided to try and live up to those words, and never give up.

Team 7 was not the only one's who came to see what all the ruckus was about. Haku had been gather herbs when she heard the sound of battle, so she decided to go investigate and see if it was a threat to Zabuza.

As Haku remained hidden she observed the spar between a blond haired boy and an older woman, both appeared to be quite skilled when it came to Taijustu. That's when her eye's caught the sight of the Konoha Shinobi that she rescued Zabuza from a couple of days age. _'So the Konoha Shinobi are here. So does this mean that the boy, and the woman are there allies? If so, than we could be in serious trouble.' _ Haku decided the best way to find, out was to continue her observations.

As the spar continued Kakashi felt he had recovered enough to see if Naruto was using any Chakra in his attack's, so he lifted up his head band to reveal his Sharingan and focused on Naruto.

As Naruto jumped back to evade one of Shizune's kicks he suddenly had a feeling of dread, as flashes of the beating he got years ago passed in front of his eyes. His eyes widened and started to look around for the source.

Shizune took advantage of Naruto's distraction and landed a blow to his face sending him crashing into a tree.

When Tsunade saw Naruto's eyes start looking around she got a little worried, he never let himself get distracted like this when in a spar. So she scanned the area herself, she froze when she laid eyes on Kakashi with his Sharingan active, looking at Naruto. Tsunade looked back to where Naruto hit the tree, only to see him standing on a branch looking around franticly. Her eyes widened in realization _'OH SHIT! He's able to sense the chakra being used in the Sharingan!'_

Tsunade immediately rushed over to Kakashi and yanked his head band down, covering his eye. Giving Kakashi a hard glare, her focus went back to Naruto, seeing that he had a very confused look on his face decided to call it a day.

"Alright! That's enough for now!" Yelled Tsunade.

As Naruto landed on the ground next to the tree, Sasuke came up to him, grabbed Naruto by the coat and said "I demand that you tell, where you got that power from!"

Looking at Sasuke like he was nuts, Naruto just said "Uh… through training."

This really infuriated Sasuke, his grip tightened as he said "Don't toy with me you loser! There's no way a person like you could become that skilled with just through regular training! Now tell me where you got it!"

Naruto narrowed his eyes _'What an asshole!'_ "Sasuke-teme, I'll give you just five seconds to let go of me, or I'm going to take this as an assault on my person, and brake your are arm in response."

Before anything could happen Kakashi separated the two and lead his team off to finish their training. After they left Naruto continues to stare in the direction that Team 7 headed.

Shaking his head and letting out Naruto said "You know Kaasan, I'm starting to wonder if your bad luck is rubbing off on me."

A little irritated by this comment Tsunade remains calm and asks "What do you mean by that Naru-chan?"

"Well, it was my choice to visit Wave in the first place, and it's done nothing but bring trouble, and bad memories."

Tsunade and Shizune looked at Naruto with a sad face. That's when Tsunade decided to ask "Naru-chan, what happened in the spar earlier? Why did you get distracted at the end?"

Naruto thought about it for a second before responding with "I don't really know, I was just overcome with a feeling of dread, it was like someone was watching me. The only time I felt like that, was just before you found me Kaasan."

'_That's what I thought.' _ Tsunade put a smile on her face and said "Well, let's worry about it later ok. Let's just head back and get me some sake."

Naruto just laughed at his Kaasan's attempt to change the subject. He just looked up at the sky, and let out another sigh before saying "I think I'll just go for a walk, I just need to be alone for a little while."

Nodding Tsunade said "Alright, just don't stay out to late, ok Naru-chan."

"Thanks Kaasan." said Naruto as he started to head off into the woods.

During this time Haku watched the exchange between Naruto and Sasuke, she was a little relieved to see that the Konoha shinobi and this other group weren't allies. Haku decided that she wanted to know more about the blond haired boy and his relationship with that dark haired boy. Bringing her focus back on the group Haku see Naruto walk off into the woods while the other to head back to town. Since she can't learn anything more here, Haku decides to head back to the clearing and continue to gather the herbs for Zabuza, and disappears in a whirl of leaves.

When the wooded area is dissertated of all it occupants, Shadow came out of the shadows. Shadow had observed Naruto's spar and was impressed with his Taijustu skills, but the name 'Naruto' bothered him, he couldn't shake the feeling that he had heard that name somewhere before.

After looking the battle field Shadow thought _'I'm going to have to report this to my partner's, maybe they know where I heard the name Naruto before. I'll also have to tell them that it looks like Tsunade-sama is here with him.' _Shadow then returns to the shadows.

As Naruto walked through the woods, he stumbles into a clearing, as he looked around he spotted a girl wearing a pink Kimono gathering herbs. Seeing that she was by herself Naruto headed over to see if she needed any help.

Haku was surprised when she sensed Naruto come into the clearing. She couldn't believe that she ran into Naruto so soon and when he started to head towards her she decided not to let this opportunity pass by.

With her back to Naruto, Haku lifted her head and said "It's not very polite, to sneak up on people like that."

"I-I'm sorry, I was just wondering around, and I ended up here. Uh… I didn't mean to sneak up on anyone." _'What the hell!? Since when do I stutter? For that matter, how was she able to tell I was even walking up to her, could she be a Shinobi?'_

When Haku turned around she couldn't help but laugh at Naruto's confused expression "If you didn't mean to, then I guess it's alright. By the way, my names Haku, may I ask yours?"

Naruto just rubbed the back of his head as he tried to figure out Haku. Shrugging his shoulder's he answered "Mine's Naruto, It's nice to meet you."

As they shake hands Naruto notices the herbs in Haku's basket and asks "I see you're collecting some medical herbs, would you like some help?"

"You know about medical herbs?" said a shocked Haku.

"Yeah, my Kaasan and Neechan are medical specialists and have been training me so I can follow in their footsteps." said a smiling Naruto.

Over the next few hours Naruto got to know Haku while he helped her gather medical herbs. When they had finished he looked over at her and noticed the look in her eyes. This caused him to ask "Can I ask you a question?" When Haku nods Naruto continues "Have you ever experienced a painful and lonely moment in your life?"

Haku's eyes widened, "How…" was all that escaped her lips.

Naruto just gave Haku a slight smile and said "It's your eyes, I see that same look every time I look into a mirror," Haku sat there in shock, Naruto just closed his eyes and lets out a sigh, he then lifts his head skyward and opening his eyes he says, "It's the look of a person, who survived a traumatic encounter, and knows what true pain and suffering is."

Haku just looks at Naruto for a second and then asks "How would you know about that? You don't look like you've had to deal with any kind of suffering before."

Naruto's head lowered so that his hair covered his eyes. "My life wasn't always like this, before I met my Kaasan, I lived in a village that hated me, one night about nine years ago, that hatred boiled over, and they tried to kill me. Nearly succeeded to, they left me for dead somewhere along a roadside. That's where Kaasan and Shizune-neechan found me, after they healed me, they took me in and raised me. Just when I was about ready to give up to, they gave me what I needed most, a family, and a place where I belonged, and I've never been happier."

Haku just stared at him in disbelief, she couldn't believe that the boy was just like her. But unlike her he never lost his purpose for living, for he never had one until he met his Kaasan.

Haku had a far off look and said "A place to belong, I once had a place like that. I belonged to my parents." Haku than focused on Naruto and continued "They were both kind and caring, and for a time, I was happy, but then something happened."

Naruto knew what she would say next, so he said "You don't have to continue, I don't want you to bring up painful memories."

Haku gave him a small smile, "I'm alright, I don't know why, but it just feels right telling you this. Maybe it's because we share similar pasts, anyway my happiness came to a sudden stop, when my father found out that my mother had a Kekkei Genkai, he went into a rage, and killed my mother, then he tried to kill me. Before I even realized what was happening, my Kekkei Genkai awakened, and I ended up killing my own father."

Naruto watch as Haku just stared at her hands after she said that. Trying to cheer her up Naruto says "Just remember, that's in the past, and from the look of this basket, you were able to find someone that cares about you."

Haku just looked over at Naruto, and smiled "Thank you Naruto-kun."

"Your welcome Haku-Chan." said Naruto.

Looking up at the sky, Naruto realized that he needed to head back before his Kaasan started to worry. Saying their goodbyes Naruto and Haku parted ways, but not before agreeing to get together later.

(Unknown location deep in the woods)

As Shadow walked into the agreed upon meeting location, he spotted two figures waiting for him. One was a female, in her mid-twenties, with emerald green eyes and silver hair in a low ponytail, with long bangs coming down on either side of face. She was wearing a whit sleeveless robe, with a red vest overtop, black ANBU style pants with silver shin guards, and standard shinobi shoes.

The other one was a man, in his late twenties with brown wild hair, a dark blue bandana; there was a scar across his right eye, with a dark face mask. The rest of his clothing was standard shinobi equipment.

"Yo! Akira! Ba-yu! You're here early." said Shadow in a friendly manner.

Ba-yu just looked up and said "Keep it down Shadow, we don't know if anyone could be listen in. Now give us a mission report."

"Well Ba-yu, it's preceding slowly, I've been unable to talk to Zabuza about joining our village, and Gato's been keeping a close eye on him since his lose to Kakashi."

Ba-yu got a serious look on his face and said "So, Konoha sent Sharigan Kakashi, to protect the bridge builder. What about the rest of the mission?"

"Well, I've been able to get close to Gato and I'm about ready to take him out, but a little complication has appeared." said Shadow.

Raising an eye brow at this Ba-yu says "A little complication?"

"Yesterday, Gato had me track down a boy, who saved the bridge builder's daughter. When I finally found him, he was with two other's, one look a lot like Tsunade-sama. I didn't recognize the other one, but she called the boy Naruto." Shadow looks over at Ba-yu and said "I know, I've heard that name somewhere before, but I can't place it."

Akira stiffened when she heard the name and asked "Shadow, what does this boy look like?"

"Well, he has blond spiky hair, deep blue eyes, and he had these odd whisker like birthmarks, on his cheeks."

Akira's eyes widen when she hears this "It can't be, that sounds like Naruto Uzumaki."

"THAT"S IMPOSSIBLE! He died over nine years ago!" yelled Shadow.

"That's true, but remember, this information came from Konoha, so we might have been lied to." said Ba-yu.

"If that's true, than what are we going to do about it?" said Akira as she nods her head in agreement.

Ba-yu comes to a decision "Shadow, you will continue with the mission, however, I want you to find out if he really is Naruto Uzumaki."

"Yes sir." said Shadow as he fades into the shadows.

"Akira, we may have to run interference, if what Shadow said is true, than Tsunade-sama has to be close to the boy, and I don't think, she'll want anyone to find out the truth about him."

Akira nods her head and heads off toward town. Ba-yu just stood there for a moment before he followed after Akira, his only thought was _'If he really is Naruto Uzumaki, than Sensei is going to be really pissed that we were lied to.'_

(Living room of the Tazuna house)

As Naruto walked into the living room he say Tsunade sitting on the couch waiting for him.

"You've been gone a long time I was starting to get worried." said Tsunade.

Naruto just sighed; he hated to upset his Kaasan like this. "I'm sorry Kaasan, I was helping a friend gather some herbs, and I just lost track of the time."

Tsunade perked up after hearing this, "So, my little Naru-chan was able to make a friend here, huh? What's there name? What kind of person are they?"

Naruto just shook his head at all the questions, "Well, to start, her name his Haku, and she's just like me, we've both know what it's like to be truly alone. She does seem to be a very kind person, and her knowledge of medicine rivals my own."

Tsunade just smiled at Naruto, she was happy that he was final able to make a friend. She was a little worried that after his experiences in Konoha, he would try to distance himself from people his own age, so he wouldn't get hurt again. Tsunade put her arm around Naruto and said "I'm happy that you were able to make a friend Naru-chan…., it starting to look like, it was a good idea to come to Wave after all. Now come on, it late, let's turn in for the night."

Over the next few days Naruto spent his time training with his family, avoiding Sasuke and spending some time with Haku. Naruto even found out, that as he suspected Haku has had some shinobi training. They even taught each other some Ninjustu, Haku taught Naruto Suiton: Suiryudan no Jutsu, and Suiton: Daibakufu no Jutsu. While Naruto taught Haku Katon: Gokakyu no Jutsu, and some healing techniques since she had some medical training.

Naruto's time in Wave seemed to be going better, that is until one evening when everyone was together for dinner. As the meal progresses Inari, who had been watching Naruto for the past couple of days, finally broke down and yelled "WHY DO YOU TRAIN SO HARD, NO MATTER HOW HARD YOU TRAIN, THERE WILL ALWAYS BE SOMEONE, WHO IS STRONGER THAN YOU!"

Naruto just looked over at Inari and said "Shut up, I'm not like you, I'll never just give up, and become a baby, like you."

Inari just shouted back, "You don't know a thing about me! You're always pending time with your family, or that friend of yours! YOU HAVE NO IDEA WHAT SUFFERING AND LONELINESS IS REALLY LIKE, OR WHAT MY LIFE IS LIKE!"

The room got deathly quite as Tsunade and Shizune glared at Inari. Finally the silence was broken by Naruto.

Naruto had his head lowered with his hair covering his eyes as he said in a harsh tone "You say you've suffered kid, you don't know the meaning of the word."

The tone in Naruto's voice caused a visible flinch from Tsunade and Shizune, this didn't go unnoticed by the Konoha Shinobi, but before anyone could say anything Naruto continued.

"You don't know how lucky you had it. You've always had your mother and grandfather, who love you, and will always be there for you. I didn't even know what love was, until I was four, or what it felt like to belong to a family until I was five."

This shocked everyone in the room except for Tsunade, Shizune, and Kakashi.

Since the room was silent Naruto continued "You want to know the funny thing is. If it wasn't for the hatred of Konoha, then I probably wouldn't have met my family."

This statement caused Kakashi to lower his head, and Hinata had tears in her eyes. Sasuke just sat there looking completely uninterested. As for Sakura, she didn't believe what Naruto just said, yells back "You're lying, Konoha isn't like that, we treat everyone like family."

Naruto just scoffed at Sakura's words and says "Depends when you where born."

Naruto then looks over at Tsunade and says "Sorry Kaasan, but I've lost my appetite, so I'm going for a walk." Tsunade nods her head, and Naruto walks out the door.

After Naruto leaves, everyone recovers from there shock and then Inari runs out of the room crying, Shizune looked over at Tsunade, who gives her a slight nod, understanding the meaning, Shizune gets upend follows Inari.

When Sakura reiterates her last statement about Konoha treating everyone like family, a low chuckle could be heard from Tsunade. Shaking her head, Tsunade says "Family, Konoha was like that once, but that was a long time ago."

As Tsunade got up and headed for the door, Sakura came out of her shock and says "How can you say that Tsunade-sama, you should know first hand, how Konoha treats everyone."

Tsunade stops dead in her tracks, and looks back at Sakura before saying "You're right, I have seen first hand, the results of what the people of Konoha are capable of." Tsunade then proceeds out the door.

When Shizune found Inari, he was sitting on a dock crying over the harsh treatment he received from Naruto. As Shizune sat down next to Inari, she says "You know, Naruto-kun really didn't mean to blow-up at you like that."

Inari looked up at Shizune with tear covered eyes, while Shizune just let out a sigh "But, I think he's been holding that inside himself for so long, that your words just set him off. You see, for the first part of his life, Naruto-kun was all alone, he didn't even have a mother or a father."

Inari stops crying and goes wide eyes as Shizune continues "In fact what he said was true, when he was five, some shinobi tried to kill him. If it wasn't for Tsunade-sama and myself, he probably would have died."

Inari remained silent after hearing that about Naruto. Seeing this Shizune just smiled and added "So don't let it get to you, Naruto-kun can't stand to see people suffer, so in his own way, he was trying to help you. So, let's head back inside shale we." Inari looked up at Shizune and tried to smile before they headed back inside.

We find Naruto walking through woods mentally berating himself for yelling at Inari like that. _'Smooth Naruto, real smooth, you probably scarred the poor kid for life.' _Naruto then punches a nearby tree to vent some frustration, leaving a huge indentation in the tree.

"**Will you keep it down kit? Some of us are trying to sleep here."** yawned Kyuubi.

'_Not now Baa-Chan, I'm pissed off enough as it is.'_

"What's got you so mad Naruto-kun?" said a voice from behind him.

Turning around Naruto looked up into the tree only to find Haku looking down at him. Kyuubi looked at this new girl and inwardly smirked.

"**Not bad kit, she'll make a fine mate someday."**

This caused Naruto to nearly choke _'BAA-CHAN! It's not like that, where just friends!'_

Seeing Naruto get a far off look on his face, Haku started to get worried. Jumping down to the ground she asked "Are you ok Naruto-kun."

Shaking his head and ignoring Kyuubi's laughter, he looked at Haku and sighed "Not really, I kind of blow my top at a little kid, when he said I didn't know what suffering was like."

Before Haku could say anything, Sasuke came out of the woods and walked up to them with a scowl on his face. "I knew this was a waste of time, I can't believe that I followed a loser like you out here, thinking that I could see what kind of training you do, and here I find you meeting some worthless little girl, pathetic." and then he just grunted and walked away.

Sasuke received glares to the back of his head, from both Naturo and Haku, both of them had the exact same thought _'Man, he's a real asshole.'_

After Sasuke was out of sight, Naruto looked over at Haku and said "Sorry about that Haku-Chan, he can be a real asshole sometimes."

"It wasn't your fault Naruto-kun, so stop blaming yourself." said Haku.

"Thanks Haku-Chan, but what are you doing out here at this time of night?"

"I was just about to meet up with someone, when I heard a loud noise and I thought I would investigate."

Naruto got a thoughtful look on his face before saying "Well then, I wouldn't want you to get in any kind of trouble for being late. So I'll just be on my way."

As Haku watched Naruto walk off she said "Naruto-kun, do you think we could meet up tomorrow night, just so you can talk to some one, about what happened with that kid you yelled at."

Naruto just smiled at Haku and said "Sure thing, I'll meet you here around this time tomorrow ok."

Haku just nodded and headed of to meet Zabuza at their hideout. When she got back to the hideout, Haku ran into Zabuza right inside the door.

"Haku, where did you run off to?"

Haku just bowed and said "Sorry Zabuza-sama, I ran into my new friend and got delayed."

Zabuza just looked at Haku for a second before saying "Never forget how you are Haku, now go get ready, we'll attack the old man tomorrow."

"Hai, Zabuza-sama." said Haku as she went to get ready for tomorrow's mission.

Next Chapter: Battle on the Bridge

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Author's Note 2: Well here's Chapter 6, hope you liked my take on the Wave Arc so far. The Next Chapter is going to have a lot of stuff happening in it, from our mysterious ninja's to Haku and Naruto meeting in battle. Also Naruto will discover that the Uchiha Clan is responsible for his assault back in Chapter 1(Tsunade never did tell Naruto who attacked him, she didn't want him to be consumed with revenge.)


	7. Chapter 7:Battle on the Bridge

-1

"Speech"

'_Thoughts'_

**Demon/Summon/inner Sakura speech**

_**Demon/Summon thoughts**_

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or any of the characters created by Kishimoto, but all OC's are my own creation.

Author's note: Sorry for the late update, but I've been having internet troubles and I've been unable to get online since I last updated… So if any of you have asked me any question's I'll try to answer them in the next update. Also I know I said that I was going to have Naruto find out about the Uchiha clan's involvement in his attack in this chapter, but after some careful consideration(and some alterations to the fight's that are to come) it has been postponed until the next Chapter. Sorry about that, but it just worked out better that way.

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Chapter 7: Battle on the Bridge

When the following morning came, Tsunade decided that because of what happened last night, Naruto deserved to sleep in today. So she headed out to see if she could find a place to think about how to tell Naruto about the people who assaulted him, as well as sell her some sake. As she was about to leave, Shizune decided to come along with her, so they told Tsunami to let Naruto know where they were headed and left the house.

Team 7 had just escorted Tazuna to the bridge when a thick mist started to roll in. Before any of them realized it they were surrounded by Mizu Bunshin's of Zabuza.

"I see you've still got those brats with you Kakashi. It seems the boy is still trembling from our last encounter." said all of the Zabuza's.

Sasuke just gets smirk on his and says "I'm trembling with excitement…." Sasuke just blurred out for a few seconds, and then all of the Zabuza's burst into water. "…for I've been waiting for a rematch."

"Well, it looks like this brat, has turned into rival…eh, Haku?" says Zabuza.

Knowing that this would piss of Sasuke, Haku says "Not really, know if it were Naruto-kun, than I would have to agree with you."

Everyone was caught off guard with this comment. Kakashi just looks over at the two _'They know about Naruto?'_

Recovering from his shock Sasuke start's to see red and charges Haku. Sasuke throws a series of punches and kicks aimed at Haku's head, chest, and kidneys. After Haku blocks all these blows, she goes for a sweep to the legs, as Sasuke starts to fall Haku comes around with a kick to the chest, sending Sasuke flying backwards.

Sasuke comes skidding to a halt in front of Kakashi, his smirk never left his face even as he got back to his feet. Wiping some dirt from his chin Sasuke says "I'm glad to see that you have some skill, I was afraid, that this was going to be boring."

Haku just shakes her head in disbelief, _'Can he really be that arrogant? He couldn't even touch me with his attack, and I kicked him half way across this bridge, and he thinks I have some skill.' _Haku lowers her head and says "I'm going to enjoy taking you down a peg or two."

(Tazuna's House)

After Naruto received Tsunade's message from Tsunami, he decided to take a bath and get ready for when she came back. Just as he finished getting ready, he heard screaming coming from downstairs.

By the time he got downstairs he hears Tsunami say "If you kill Inari, I'll bit off my tongue, and bleed to death. Then you won't have any hostages."

Naruto snuck up to the doorframe and took a peak inside, what he saw surprised him. It was the two men that threatened Tsunami over a week ago; one of them was dragging Tsunami away while the other one was putting a sword to Inari's neck.

After assessing the situation Naruto did some hand seals and vanished into thin air. As the two men continued to threaten Inari, they never noticed the Genejustu Naruto put them under. Both men's eyes widened as they dropped whatever was in their hands, and grabbed their heads and dropped to their knees screaming, before falling unconscious.

Inari just looked at the two men and then at Naruto, who just appeared out of nowhere, before asking "What just happened?"

Naruto rubs the back of his head and gets a smile on his face as he replies "Well Inari, I used a Genejustu on them, that I developed myself. Before you ask, this Genejustu dives into your mind, and finds the most brutal act, that you have committed in the last year. It then has you live through that even, but you're the victim, so you experience all the pain, that you inflicted on them."

Seeing the confused look on Inari's face Naruto decided to try another approach "Basically, what I said was, that I make them relive one of their acts of brutality as the victim. They see themselves, hurting themselves."

Naruto kneeled down to face Inari, he got a sad look on his face and says "Inari, I saw what they did to your father, and I promise you this. I won't let Gato, or his men, kill your grandfather."

After seeing a smile appear on Inari's face Naruto tied up the two men and headed off toward the bridge.

(At a pub somewhere in town)

Tsunade took another swig of her sake, then look over at Shizune and says "Shizune, I think it's time, we talk to Naru-chan, about then clan that assaulted him. With the only two Sharingan wielders from Konoha here, he's bound to find out about the Uchiha Clan's involvement, and I want to make sure that the Uchiha brat, doesn't push Naru-chan over the edge."

"But Tsunade-sama…" Shizune never got to finish her sentence as both of them felt Naruto's chakra spike. Tsunade's head snapped, and looked over at Shizune "Some things wrong, we need to head back to the house, now!"

Shizune just nods her head and both of them head out the door. Just as they exit the pub a strange man lands in front of them.

As Ba-yu looks over at the two he simple says "I'm sorry Tsunade-sama, but I can't let you interfere."

Tsunade was a bit surprised that this man knew who she was, let alone the fact that he was able to sneak up on them like this, means he has some skill. Tsunade looks over at Shizune; making eye contact she gives Shizune a nod. Understanding what Tsunade was implying Shizune returns the nod, and then dashes off towards Tazuna's house.

Ba-yu moves to intercept Shizune, when Tsunade suddenly appears in front of him to block his path. Narrowing her eyes at him she asks "What exactly are we interfering with?"

Ba-yu just stares back at her and says "Tell me, that boy who accompanies you, is his full name Naruto Uzumaki?"

(Back at the Bridge)

Sasuke was just barely able to dodge Haku's Sensatsu Suisho, when he looked back toward Haku; he was starting to get really pissed off at the face that this shin obi was playing with him. _'Damn it! This Haku is just toying with me, if I just had my Sharingan, this would be child's play.'_

Haku just smiled behind her mask at the amount of trouble Sasuke was having just trying to keep up with her. Ever since her encounter with him the night before Haku has developed a strong dislike for the Uchiha.

Kakashi was starting to get a little worried, Sasuke wasn't fairing to well against this Haku person, but if he were to go help than Zabuza would move in to kill Tazuna, along with his other two students Sakura and Hinata. He just narrowed his eyes at Zabuza and continued to wait for his moment to strike; he just hoped it would happen before anything bad happened to Sasuke.

Sasuke throws some kunai and shuriken at Haku, while she moved to dodge he charged in. Just as Haku dodged the projectile weapons, Sasuke managed to kick her in the face to send her flying back. Haku does a flip in midair and lands on her feet.

Haku looks up only to see Sasuke charging at her again, so she decided that playtime was over, and starts doing hand seals and then says "Demonic Ice Mirrors."(AN: I could not find the Japanese name for this justu, I would appreciate any help in finding a site that has the justu's names. Thanks in advance.)

Sasuke comes skidding to a holt, as he sees a large Ice Mirror form in front of him, taking a quick glace around him, he sees that he is completely surrounded by these mirrors. Turning back around to face Haku, Sasuke is surprised to see Haku walk into one of the ice mirrors, and after her image appears on all of them, Sasuke couldn't help but think _' Grrr… How could I let this happen? I'm an Uchiha, one of the elite clans of Konoha, I shouldn't be having this much trouble.' _Sasuke's thoughts were cut short as senbon needles came flying towards him.

Kakashi watched on in horror as the senbon's headed toward Sasuke at alarming speed. _'This is bad, without Sharingan, Sasuke's no match for this shinobi. I've got to do something.'_ just as he finished this line of thoughts, Zabuza appears in front of Kakashi.

"Don't forget, that I'm your opponent!" says Zabuza as he swings his sword in a downward slash.

(Somewhere in town)

Shizune was about half way to Tazuna's house when a hail of kunai came flying at her. Distracted by her concern for what was happening to Naruto, she barely manages to dodge the attack.

Landing on a nearby rooftop, Shizune scans the area, looking for her attacker. When she suddenly hears the sound of clapping coming from behind her, turning around she sees a women standing on the adjacent roof.

Akira is still applauding Shizune's skills, when she says "That was quite impressive, I didn't think you could dodge that attack, being as distracted as you were, Shizune-san."

Shizune gets into a defensive stance and asks "Who are you?"

Akira just shook her head and takes a bow "My, where are my manners, my name is Akira, it's nice to finally meet you, Shizune-san. Now, if you would be so kind, as to stay right here, until all of this is over, that way I won't have to fight you."

Shizune was really confused now; she didn't understand why this woman was trying to stop her from reaching her otouto. "What do you want with Naruto-chan?"

Looking into Shizune's eyes Akira says "We want to know, if the Naruto that is with you, is the same Naruto Uzumaki that is from Konoha, who was supposedly killed nearly ten years ago, are in fact one in the same."

Shizune's eyes widen slightly at hearing this, she starts to get a little worried, and responses with "I doubt they are, but why would it matter anyway? What's so special about him? He would have been a small child back then."

Lowering her head so that her bands cover her eyes, Akira says "A long time ago, the Konoha council, not only lied to our sensei about him, but they also throw her out of the village. Why they did that, I don't know, but ten years ago, she found out that he was still alive, she wanted to go herself, but my team managed to talk her out of it."

Akira tilted her head back to look at the sky, then she continues her story "So, my team went in her place. By the time we reached Konoha, it was already to late (a tear trickled down her cheek). Can you believe it, he was just a child, and they really tried to kill him. Well, after we finished our investigation, we reported back to our sensei, needless to say, she wasn't too happy. I swear, if we would have had the strength back then, we probably would have declared war on Konoha."

Now Shizune was in a state of shock after hearing all this, but she couldn't help but wonder _'If what she says is true, then why are they attacking us?'_ "If you're telling me the truth, than answer this. Why, did you attack us, why not just come to us and talk in a civilized manner?"

Letting out a sigh, Akira answers "That was the team leader's choice, he said you wouldn't give us a straight answer. So, I ask again, please just stay here, and wait until this is over."

"I can't do that, Naruto-kun might be in danger, and I won't let him face it alone." Shizune says as she gets ready to attack.

Akira just looks at Shizune and says "You really care about him, don't you?"

Giving a slight smile Shizune says "I do, he's like a brother to me, so I won't let you harm him."

Closing her eyes, Akira stands there in silent contemplation, when she opens them again she looks directly at Shizune and says "Then, I guess we have no choice, I can't let you interfere until we learn the truth. I'm really sorry about this."

As the two face off against each other, Shizune lifts up her right sleeve to reveal her senbon launcher. Pulling back the strings she launches them at Akira, who quickly dodges them and comes in with a series of punches and kicks that Shizune blocks and counters by throwing a roundhouse kick to Akira's head.

Akira catches the kick and throws Shizune into a wall. Akira then comes in to deliver a punch to the Shizune's face, when Shizune manages to duck and roll out of the way. When she looks back, Shizune sees Akira's fist make contact with the wall, which quickly turns to rubble.

Narrowing her eyes at Akira, Shizune thinks _'This is bad! She's just as strong as Tsunade-sama! I'll have to be careful, one wrong move, and it's all over.'_

(Just outside the Pub)

Ba-yu was still waiting for an answer "Well Tsunade-sama, are you going to answer the question or not?"

Tsunade just shrugs her shoulders and says "I don't know what you're talking about, from what I've heard, this Uzumaki person, died quite some time ago."

Shaking his head Ba-yu just says "First, the council lies to us, then, all of Konoha, and now, I've got a feeling, you're lying to us too. As much, as I don't want to do this, it looks like, I'll have to beat the truth out of you."

Getting a smirk on her face Tsunade says "If you want, you can try, but I've got a felling, that you'll regret it."

Suppressing a chuckle, Ba-yu comments with "Well then, I guess after this is over, I'll be paying Naruto-kun a visit, I'm sure he'll be more than willing to talk."

Tsunade clinches her fist as her Killing Intent goes through the roof. Glaring at Ba-yu Tsunade says "I swear, if you hurt Naruto in any way…."

Before Ba-yu could even blink Tsunade appeared right in front of him, landing a chakra enforced punch to his jaw, which sent him flying back and smashing into the building that was behind him.

Tsunade just glared at the hole she sent him through and finishes her sentence "I WILL KILL YOU!"

(In the forest close to the bridge)

Naruto was running through the forest when he felt a massive amount of Killing Intent coming from the town. Remembering his training from Kyuubi, Naruto starts to focus his sense's to see if he can tell who it's coming from.

When he is final able to tell who it was coming from, he came skidding to a halt, looking in the direction of the Killing Intent he couldn't help but think _'Kaasan! What the hell is going on! Why does it feel like, Kaasan is in fight?'_

Focusing his senses further he feels a sudden spike of chakra, coming from Shizune. Looking in that direction Naruto's eyes widen in shock _'Shizune-neechan too! I need to find out what's going on, but how? I could use __Kage Bushin's__, but if it is a fight one good hit and they'd be gone. What do I do?'_

After hearing Naruto's mental rant Kyuubi decided to help him out. **"Looks like you could use so help kit."**

'_Kyuubi-Obaachan? You know a way, I can create a Bushin that last's for more than one hit?'_

Kyuubi just smiles and says **"It's just a theory, but if you use my chakra, with your ****Kage Bushin's**** they should be able to put up quite a fight before dispersing."**

'_If this works like you say, then I think I'll call it Kyuubi Kage Bushin no Justu'_

Naruto forms a cross shaped seal and creates two of his new clones. There appearance is almost identical to Naruto himself except for the face, there whisker shape birthmarks were darker and more pronounced, and the eyes were still blue with pupils changing into slits.

Looking at his two clones Naruto gave them some mental commands to find Tsunade and Shizune. Both clones nodded and headed out to complete their tasks, and Naruto took off toward the bridge.

(Back at the Bridge)

Kakashi was surrounded by mist as he mental berates himself for his situation. _'Damn it, this mist is to think for me to see anything with my Sharingan. I spent all my time focusing, on getting my team ready, that I forgot to train myself. It's been to long since I had a fight like this.' _

"Heh, Heh, Heh, What's the matter Kakashi, can't see? To bad you weren't trained in silent killing eh?" says Zabuza.

Closing his eyes Kakashi tries to focus on Zabuza's next move _'Got to calm down, focus my senses, and locate his next target.'_ Kakashi then opened his eyes in realization _'SHIT! He's going after Tazuna!'_

Kakashi was just barely able to get there in time to block Zabuza's attack. As Zabuza put more pressure on his sword he says "Not bad Kakashi, you barely managed to block that attack. Let's see how you do when I increase the mist."

As the mist increased Zabuza seemed to just disappear into the mist, Kakashi gets into a defensive stance and starts to looks around. _'Well, it looks like this fight just went to the next level.'_

Inside the ice dome, Sasuke wasn't fairing so well, his body was covered in scraps and scratches, as he was just able to dodge the next barrage of sendon's that came his way.

'_Damn, I'm not getting anywhere, if I could just follow her movements, than she would be no match for Me.'_ thinks Sasuke as he subconsciously starts to gather chakra to his eyes.

When Haku launches her next attack, Sasuke starts to see Haku's movements and is able to dodge this barrage of senbon.

After Haku finished her attack she looked over at Sasuke to see what his condition was. Her eyes widened when she sees Sasuke still standing with his Sharingan blazing (one comma in his left eye and two comma's in his right). _'So, he's finally awakened it. Well, it looks like it's time to end this.'_

Haku launches another barrage at Sasuke. While Sasuke starts to dodge, Haku was able to use this distraction, to use her Chakra for a quick burst of speed. Appearing behind Sasuke, Haku uses two of her senbon's to strike the pressure points in his neck to send him into a deathlike state.

As Sasuke starts to loose consciousness he hears Haku say "You're not going to die, that's too good for you. Instead, I want you to live with shame, of being beaten by a 'Loser'." and then the darkness claimed him.

After Sasuke falls limply to the ground Haku cancels her justu and heads toward Tazuna, Sakura, and Hinata.

As Sakura sees Haku walk out of the mist she takes a step back, out of fear. _'If this person managed to defeat Sasuke-kun, than I don't stand a chance against them.'_

Hinata's already shaky confidence, completely disappeared when she sees Sakura start to back away, but before she could even react a strange wind started to blow.

As the wind started to clear the mist from the bridge it revealed Kakashi using a kunai to block Zabuza's sword. Both of them looked around at the clearing mist in wonder.

'_What the hell? Is Kakashi doing this?' _Zabuza thinks as he jumps away from Kakashi.

When Kakashi felt the wind he couldn't help but wonder _'Who's behind this wind? They were able to dispel the mist with such ease.'_

While everyone was wondering the same thing about the wind, but for Hinata however this wind had strange warmth to it, almost as if it was telling her that that everything was going to be alright.

Haku was also having a similar feeling, when a voice came out of nowhere saying "Suiton: Suiryudan no Jutsu!"

As the Giant Dragon made of water came crashing its way towards Haku, she just raised her hand and started to channel her chakra. Just as the dragon was about to make contact it suddenly split in two and went over the both sides of the bridge and back into the water below.

Landing in front of Sakura and Hinata, Naruto looked on in disbelief at what the mask shinobi was able to do, for he knew only one person who could do that. _'It can't be!'_

(Flashback-two days ago)

Haku just smiled at Naruto and said "Ready Naruto-kun."

"I'm ready, but won't you get hurt, if this makes a direct hit?" says a concerned Naruto.

Shaking her head Haku says "You're forgetting about my Kekkei Genkai, remember, I told you, that I can control any form of water."

Naruto reluctantly agrees and launches a water dragon, and watches as Haku raises her hand and splits it in two completely missing her.

Looking back over at Naruto, Haku just smiles and says "You see, I told you I'd be fine."

(End Flashback)

"Haku-chan?" was the only word that escaped his lips.

Haku takes off her mask, a sad expression clearly on her face, as she says "Naruto-kun."

Naruto lowered his head while saying "So, you were the ones Gato hired to take out the old man." Haku's only response was to nod.

Lifting his head you could see the feeling of betrayal in his eyes as his pain filled voice says "Just tell me one thing, was our friendship a farce? Did you just use me so you could get information on the Konoha Shinobi?"

Inside her cage Kyuubi couldn't help but get a sad look on her face from what Naruto just said. She couldn't help but feel that she was the one responsible for Naruto's lack of trust.

'_**I hope you just wait to see what her answer is, before you do anything, your going to regret later kit.' **_

Out in the real world Haku visibly flinched at what Naruto said, it pained her to see the look of betrayal in his eyes and the sound of his pain filled voice. The last thing she ever wanted to do was to be the cause of even more pain, and suffering for Naruto.

Looking directly into Naruto's eyes she says "I won't lie to you Naruto-kun, before we met, that was one of my intentions. As well as to try, and get you, and your family as our allies, but after we met, everything changed."

Haku lowered her head and continued "After that day in the woods, I didn't care about getting information on them, (points to Kakashi and the rest of team seven). I just wanted to get to know you better, so, please believe me when I tell you, our friendship wasn't a farce. Please, I don't want to lose my only friend, because of this."

When Haku raises her head, Naruto searches her eyes for any sign that she's lying. Just as Naruto was about to make his decision, Kyuubi makes her opinion known **"I think you should trust her kit, I don't sense any deception coming from her. Besides, it looks like she really cares about you."**

'_You're right Baa-chan, I was getting the same feeling from her.'_ Naruto started to smile but then a sad realization set in.

Looking over at Haku, he says "I believe you Haku-chan, you didn't use me, but I can't let you kill the old man, because I promised Inari, I'd protect his Grandpa."

Haku's sad expression returned as she looked over at Naruto and says "And I can't go against Zabuza-sama, So, I guess this means were enemies now."

As Naruto lowers his head, he says "I guess so…"

He than lifts his head and smiles "But you know what, I'll always consider you my best friend, Haku-chan."

Haku returns the smile while saying "Likewise Naruto-kun, I to, will always consider you my best friend."

As both Naruto and Haku get into their fighting stances, Naruto couldn't help but think of all the fun he's had since he met Haku. Looking over at Haku, Naruto makes a silent promise. _'I swear to you Haku-chan, where both going to make it through this alive. That's a promise.'_

Next Chapter: A Tragic Battle! Naruto vs. Haku

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Authors Note 2: Well, were getting close to the end of the Wave Arc, there's going to be a lot going on in the next chapter as well, many of the fights are going to rap up, as well as a little confrontation between Naruto and Sasuke.


	8. Chapter 8:A Tragic Battle! NarutovsHaku

-1

"Speech"

'_Thoughts'_

**Demon/Summon/inner Sakura speech**

_**Demon/Summon thoughts**_

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or any of the characters created by Kishimoto, but all OC's are my own creation.

TheDon1023: No, Naruto won't be joining Konoha; he may work with them from time to

time, but he maybe joining another village later in the story.

battousai222: I may be giving away too much, but your prayers are answered. I've decided

to make that the pairing, I'll make the official announcement at the end of

this chapter. As for the beating of the Uchiha I'm saving the major beating

for the Chunin Exams.

ZaBuchar: Shadow and his friends will be on Naruto's side later in the story, but there

will be some friction because of the events playing out now.

jere7782: The leader of this group will be revealed within the next two Chapters'.

GaarasKitsune: Yes.

crazyfoxdemon: That will be answered in this chapter.

Author's Note: Now I know a lot of you are wondering about the whole attack on

Tsunade. Well what I can say is that this was Ba-yu's decision his reasons

will be given later, and Akira was against this action from the start, she's

only doing this because she was ordered to. (That will be shown in this

chapter) Well, that's enough of my rambling lets get on with the story. I've gone and revised some of the scene's that were bothering me. I have to apologize for that but I wrote some of it late last night. But I hope the corrections make more sense.

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Chapter 8: A Tragic Battle! Naruto vs. Haku

Everything was eerily calm as Naruto and Haku faced off. Even Kakashi and Zabuza stopped fighting, when they saw Naruto use Suiton: Suiryudan no Jutsu on Haku, and now everyone was watching the battle between friends.

As Naruto looked into the eyes of Haku he couldn't help but wonder _'Where we destined to become enemies, Haku-chan? Is there no other way? Baa-chan, do you think we'll be able to find a way out of this, without someone dying?'_

"**I don't know kit, but you need to stay focused, or you won't last to long in this fight." **said Kyuubi as she sat down to concentrate on watching this upcoming battle.

Naruto's and Haku's heads lower slightly just before they charge each other. Haku unleashes a flurry of punches and kick to which Naruto dodges and then counters with his own series of punches to the head and torso, only to have Haku block them all.

Both were impressed with the level of skill that they were seeing, that's when Haku decided to take it up a notch. Increasing her speed she launches a punch to Naruto's face, at the last second Naruto dodges, by ducking and moving to the right and then countering with a sweep to the legs.

Haku flips backwards to avoid the sweep. Getting back into her stance Haku couldn't help but give a sad smile when she saw Naruto getting ready to charge again. Both of them charged each other again, and launched a high kick at each other, causing their shin's to collide.

As the fight continued, Kakashi looked on in shock. He knew that Naruto had some skill, from the spar he saw earlier, but he never imaged that he could be this good. _'Naruto, with the level of skill you're showing now, you could easily make Chunin, possibly even Jonin.'_

Kakashi wasn't the only one impressed with Naruto's abilities, Zabuza had been watching from the beginning as well, and couldn't help but think back to Haku's words about Naruto. _'You're right Haku, this Naruto kid is a worthy rival after all.'_

Zabuza continued to look on with a little bit of pride at the skill Haku was showing, until he saw the look in her eyes. They had a pained look, like her soul was being ripped out and shredded into little pieces. After seeing that pained look on Haku's face, Zabuza started to feel regret for the first time in his life, he started to think that maybe forcing Haku into this fight wasn't such a good idea after all.

(In the streets outside the pub)

Ba-yu emerges from the hole that Tsunade punched him through. Rubbing his jaw he couldn't help but think _'Damn that hurt! I'm glad she only gave me a warning. If she'd punched me at full force I'd be taking a dirt nap right now.'_ "Damn Tsunade-sama, when you want to get your point across, you make sure the meaning is abundantly clear, don't you."

Tsunade just looked at him for a second before saying "What's the deal? First you threaten my son, and now you're making joke, while still treating my name with respect. It can't be both, so which is it, are you an ally or an enemy?"

"Until I ascertain your true motives, it's both really. I believe that this is the best way, for getting to the truth." said Ba-yu as he just crossed his arms over his chest.

Tsunade just looked at him like he was crazy "You've got to be kidding me, you believe that strong arming people with threats, is the best way to get what you want."

Shrugging his shoulders Ba-yu just nods his head and says "Why not, it seems to work for Konoha."

Shaking her head Tsunade says "I see you still have a lot to learn."

'_This will be the final test.'_ Ba-yu thinks as he says "You're one to talk, for all I know, you're still working for Konoha, and just like them, you're waiting for your chance to kill him."

Tsunade was really pissed off now, slamming her fist into the wall behind her, causing the wall to splinter and crack. With an intense glare she looked at Ba-yu and says "Don't you DARE, compare me with those people!"

Ba-yu got a small smile behind his mask after seeing Tsunade's reaction, and as she charges him he thinks _'So, I was wrong about her, she really does care about him.'_

(With Shizune)

Letting out a deep breath Akira thinks _'Man, that took a lot out of me.'_ Standing upright, she turned to judge Shizune's reaction to her attack.

'_Damn, I was hoping to intimidate her into staying here and not interfering, but it looks like I just increased her resolved.'_ Akira just shook her head at this development _'Ba-yu, I'm going to kick your ass later, for making me do it this way. I hate this strong arm approach of yours. It would have been so much easier, if we had talked to them, and then discerned their true motives that way. Why do you have to be so paranoid anyway?'_

(Flashback- just after there meeting)

As Ba-yu catches up to Akira he gives her, her orders "Akira, while Shadow tries to find out about Naruto from watching him, I want you to use whatever means necessary, to keep Shizune from Naruto, while I interrogate Tsunade-sama."

This shocked Akira and she voiced her opinion "What! You can't be serous, we don't even know if he is an Uzumaki, and you're already planning to make an enemy out of the people that have raised him? What's the matter with you?"

Ba-yu just gives her a harsh glare before saying "Listen here Akira! Sensei put ME, in command of this mission. So, it my orders we'll be following, not yours, and besides, how do we know that they aren't still working for Konoha? They could be just biding their time, waiting for orders to kill him."

Akira just gives him the 'are you crazy' look before saying "Are you mad!? Tsunade-sama and Shizune-san, have raised and protected him, so, how can you say that they are just waiting for orders, to kill him?"

Getting irritated at Akira's constant questioning of his orders, Ba-yu says "That's enough! My orders stand, and you will follow them to the letter, got that."

Akira lowers her head in defeat and said "Yes SIR."

Seeing the anger in Akira's eyes Ba-yu says "If you're worried about Naruto's safety, don't forget that Shadow is watching him. So, he should be just fine."

(End Flashback)

"I'll ask you again, please just stay here and don't interfere. I don't want to fight someone who's taken such good care of Naruto." said Akira as she got into her fighting stance.

Shizune looks at Akira for a second before coming to a decision. Giving Akira a harsh glare she says "I don't know if you're telling the truth or not, but I won't be intimidated into abandoning Naruto-kun. He's already had a long list of people who have, and I don't intend to add it."

This comment was enough to cause Akira to avert her eyes from Shizune's glare. This one action was all Shizune needed as she launched her attack. Akira was taken by surprise, when Shizune attacked so; Shizune was able to land a hit on Akira sending her flying back.

When Akira recovered from the hit, Shizune was already on her launching even more punches and kicks to Akira's body. While Akira was blocking, dodging and throwing out her own counter attacks, a bunch of kunai came flying at her the moment she had separated from Shizune. After doing a series of back flips to avoid the oncoming kunai, she looked up to see a figure attacking her with a heel drop.

Akira gets out of the way just in time to see a small crater form when the heel made contact with the ground. When the figured stood up Akira got a good look at his face and her only thoughts were _'No question about it now, he looks just like his father.'_

As the Naruto clone turned to check on Shizune he says "You ok Shizune-neechan?"

When Shizune gets a good look at the clones face she starts to panic a little "N-N-Naruto-kun, what on earth happened to you!?"

Giving Shizune a slight smile the clone says "Don't worry Shizune-neechan, the boss will explain everything later, but right now…" the clone turned his head and glared at Akira. "I'm going to help you take out the trash."

'_Boss? So, this is bushin?'_ were the thought's of Shizune as she went and stood next the clone, and got ready to attack.

Coming to the same conclusion as Shizune in regards to the clone, Akira come to a decision "Screw Ba-yu's orders. Clone or not, I will not fight Naruto-sama." and the she does a hand seal and disappears in a puff of smoke.

With his enhanced hearing the clone heard what she said, completely confused by this statement he vocalizes his confusion "Naruto-sama?"

Shizune's eyes widen as her head snaps in the clones direction _'Naruto-sama!?'_ she the looks over to where Akira had been _'What's going on here? Akira, just who are you?'_

Shizune's thought's were stopped there as the clone turned toward her and said "We need to go Neechan, it looks like the boss, is fighting his only friend on the bridge."

"How do you….." Shizune starts to ask when she is interrupted.

"We share a mental link, everything I know, the boss knows and vice versa." said the clone as he looked off toward the bridge.

Shaking her head in amazement before saying "Then there's no time to waste, we need to get there as fast as possible."

The clone just nods and they both take off toward the bridge.

(Back at the Bridge)

While Naruto and Haku are still going at it, Sakura was scanning the bridge looking for any sign of Sasuke. When she finally sees him lying in the ground, she turns toward Hinata and said "Hinata, I'm going to go check on Sasuke. So, I'm counting on you to guard Tazuna, ok."

For her part Hinata just lowered her head, and started to poke her index finger's together "A-A-Are you sure that it will be alright? I-I mean, K-Kakashi-sensei told both of use to guard Tazuna."

Sakura just looked Hinata in the eyes while saying "Look Hinata, Kakashi-sensei wouldn't want us to abandon our teammates, would he? So, I'll go and check, while you continue to guard Tazuna, that way we can take care of both at the same time. Does it make sense now?"

"I-I guess so." came Hinata's meek reply.

After her conversation with Hinata, Sakura made her way over to where Sasuke. When she finally reaches Sasuke, she stood there for a moment, before dropping to her knees.

"T-This isn't a Genejutsu is it? He's so cold." said Sakura in a saddened voice.

Sakura then leaned over Sasuke and started to cry like a baby. Through her sobs you could hear her say the name "SASUKE!"

This whaling caught the attention of everyone on the bridge; it even caused Naruto and Haku to stop in mid attack. Both of them blinked for a second before turning toward the sound. Naruto looked over at Sasuke and after seeing his condition, he just shook his head_ 'Judging by where the sendon are in his neck, he's just in a deathlike state. He should be up and about in a few minutes, so why is she crying like that?'_

"**Well kit, I'd say she's letting her emotions, cloud her judgment."** says Kyuubi.

Naruto just shrugs his shoulders _'If you say so Baa-chan, but I think she needs to spend more time on her training, and less time chasing after that bastard.'_ Naruto then turns to face Haku.

Looking Haku in the eyes, Naruto says "I'm a little surprised Haku-chan, you didn't take advantage of me, when I dropped my guard, or when I turned my back to you."

Haku broke eye contact and lowered her head before saying "I could never stab you in the back like that, Naruto-kun."

This brought a small smile to his face as he said "I'm glad to hear I can trust you with my life, it's a shame that we're enemies. Haku-chan, I don't want to be your enemy, and I've got a feeling, that you don't want to be mine either. So please, let's end this battle, there's no reason for you to fight for Gato. You're to kind for that."

Haku's head remained lowered with her eyes shrouded in shadow as she says "Naruto-kun…..the last thing I wanted to do was fight against you, but…..(Haku raises her head) I'm Zabuza-sama's tool, to be used as he see fit, and Zabuza-sama has ordered me to make sure the bridge builder is…..taken care of."

Naruto was about to ask why, when it suddenly hit him "Zabuza is the one that cares for you isn't he?"

"Hai." says Haku as she nods her head.

"Then, I guess we really don't have a choice." says Naruto as he starts to do a series of hand seals while thinking _'I hope this _works' and then yells out "Katon: Karyuu Endan"(Fire Dragon Flame Projectile).

While Naruto is doing his hand seals Haku starts doing her own and yells out "Suiton: Suiryuudan no Jutsu" (Water Dragon Projectile Technique).

As the two jutsu collide the fire dragon flame is put out but the water dragon evaporate leaving the area covered in fog. Using this chance Naruto tries to sneak around Haku, only to have a couple senbon's pierce an area around his left shoulder, effectively numbing the arm.

Looking at Haku through the dispersing fog, Naruto says "You knew I was going to try, and sneak around you, didn't you?"

Nodding her head Haku says "I suspected something when you started doing hand signs for a fire jutsu. Naruto-kun, you should give up, your left arm is numb, and practically useless, you can't beat me in that state."

Still holding his left arm Naruto lowers his head and says "Haku-chan, you should know by now, that I don't quite, back down, or runaway. Oh, and Haku-chan? Don't underestimate me!"

Haku's eyes widen when she sees Naruto turn into a puff of smoke. _'What the!_ _A Kage Bushin! When did he…?' _Haku quickly snaps he head around just in time to see the real Naruto's right fist coming at her.

As the fist makes contact with Haku's chin, she was able to stab Naruto in his right arm with the senbon's that she was still holding.

When they separated Naruto pulled out the senbon's while Haku wiped the blood from her lip. Taking a brief second to look at each other they both got sad looks on their faces, before they charged each other again and continued the battle.

Leaning against a tree that wasn't to far from the bridge, Shadow was watching the battle with great interest, when Akira landed next to him.

Shadow turns his head toward Akira and asks "What are you doing here? I thought you and Ba-yu, were going to keep an eye on Tsunade-sama's activates, in case she would try, and interfere with our investigation."

Lowering her head and letting out a sigh, Akira says "There's been a change in the plan. Ba-yu decided to confront Tsunade-sama directly, and he ordered me to delay Shizune-san, but when a clone of Naruto-sama appeared, I couldn't bring my self to fight him, so I disobeyed orders, and fled."

Shadow just looked at Akira in disbelief _'You've got to be kidding me, that idiot! What the hell was he thinking, didn't he realize that this method could turn them against us?' "_What a minute……Naruto-sama! You're that sure of his lineage, are you Akira."

Nodding her head Akira answers "More so now, than ever before." Deciding to change the subject a little Akira turns attention towards the fight between Naruto and Haku before saying "So, how's he doing?"

"Very well actually, I was surprised to see that they seem to be evenly matched. It would seem that Tsunade-sama trained the boy well, he can definitely defend himself…. (Shadow takes a quick glance towards Sasuke's position) Well, looks like the Uchiha is coming around, things should get interesting from this point on."

As Sasuke began to regain consciousness the first thing he heard was the sound of Sakura crying over his body. "Get off me Sakura….you're heavy."

Sakura wiped the tears from her eyes as she looked at Sasuke's face, seeing that his eyes were open Sakura enveloped him in a bone crushing hug while screaming "SASUKE-KUN! SASUKE-KUN! SASUKE-KUN!"

Getting slightly irritated by this Sasuke says "Sakura, you're hurting me."

"S-Sorry" came Sakura's meek response, as she lets go of him, and he starts to get to his feet. When Sasuke got to his feet he started to look around looking for the shinobi that defeated him. Turning his head to the left, his eyes widened in shock, for there was Naruto fighting on what looked like even terms with the enemy shinobi Haku.

Sasuke was having a hard time comprehending how Naruto, who wasn't even a shin obi, was able to go toe to toe with a renegade shin obi. As his anger started to rise Sasuke remembered that he now had his Sharingan. Figuring that he could at least copy some jutsu, Sasuke used some of his remaining chakra to activate his Sharingan, and then focused his attention on the battle.

This battle has been going on for quite awhile now, both Naruto and Haku were breathing hard (Haku more so than Naruto), as the fatigue of battle started to show. As they take a moment to catch their breath, Naruto felt a chill run down is spine, as the same feeling of dread washed over him. This time however, it was like this feeling was coming from a specific direction.

Naruto turned around to see what was causing this feeling when he saw Sasuke's eyes, causing him to stop dead in his tracks.

Inside her cage, Kyuubi was starting to get a little worried about Naruto's reaction toward the sight before him, for she could feel the anger rising within him, when all of a sudden Kyuubi could feel her chakra being drained. _'__**This isn't good, the kit's subconscious is taking my chakra, at this rate, he could go into a blinding rage.'**_

Back in the real world Kyuubi's fears were becoming a reality, as Naruto was starting to be consumed by an uncontrollable rage. As Kyuubi's chakra started to leak out of Naruto, his appearance starts to change, his whisker marks become darker and more pronounced, his eyes change from a deep blue to a blood red, as his pupils turned into cat like slits, and his canines became longer and sharper, while his fingernails turned in to sharp claws.

Naruto just stood there for a moment staring at Sasuke's eyes before saying "YOU! It was your clan!"

Before anyone could say anything Naruto charges toward Sasuke screaming "It was your clan that nearly killed me, and then just through me out like yesterday's trash!"

(Back with Tsunade)

Ba-yu has been on the defensive ever since Tsunade started to attack him. As Ba-yu dodges a heel drop from Tsunade, he barely has time to react when he heard a voice say "Katon Goukakyuu no Jutsu" (Great Fireball Technique), looking up he sees the big fireball coming closer as he performs a Kawarimi to escape unharmed.

When the clone landed next to Tsunade, she couldn't help but wonder _'N-Naru-chan, what's happened to you?'_

As the clone gets into a fighting stance, and starts to channel his chakra as he says "Looks like the boss's suspicions were right."

This comment caught both Tsunade and Ba-yu by surprise as they thought _'That's a clone? I've never seen one that was so powerful.'_

But as soon as they finished this train of thought, everyone felt the sudden increase in chakra coming from the bridge. The clone simple looks over at Tsunade before saying "Kaasan, the boss knows who attacked him."

As soon as the clone finished his statement he went up in a puff of smoke, Tsunade just looked on in horror as the words that the clone said sunk in _'Oh god! I should have told him! I should have told him, now who knows what's going to happen! I've got to get there, and FAST!'_

When Ba-yu sees Tsunade make a mad dash toward the bridge, he decides not to pursue her after all he's already got all the information that he needs anyway. Turning his head to were the clone was and thinks _'So, it looks like Naruto, has lost himself to his rage, but I'm impressed that the clone, was able to relay that one message, before dispersing though.' _"Well, there's no reason to hang around here anymore, might as well head back to the rendezvous point."

(Back at the Bridge)

Shizune had just arrived at the bridge when Naruto noticed Sasuke's eyes. When she saw him charge Sasuke she yelled out "Naruto-kun STOP! You're better than this! Don't stoop to there level!"

Haku was very confused about what was going on, until she heard Shizune's plea, then everything clicked. She didn't even care that they were suppose to be enemies, she just knew she had to stop Naruto from doing anything that he might regret later, and runs after him.

Back inside her cage Kyuubi was torn, on one hand she wanted to see the Uchiha get what was coming to him, and on the other hand she knew he would regret doing it like this later._** 'Damn it, as much as I want to see that bastard get what's coming to him, I can't let the kit do it this way.' "KIT! Remember what you told me!!!"**_

(Flashback- one week ago)

"**You know kit, I think you were too soft on them, if it was me, I would have made them pay for insulting me like that." **said Kyuubi.

'_It a good thing I'm not you then Baa-chan. If I had done that, then who knows what Konoha's reaction would be. I mean not only would they find out that I'm alive, but that I was responsible for putting one of there shinobi in the hospital, they would probable make sure I was dead this time, not to mention the danger that would put Kaasan and Shizune-neechan in.'_

(End flashback)

Right after Kyuubi finished getting her point across, Haku caught up to Naruto and enveloped him in a hug while saying "Not this way, Naruto-kun. Don't let your rage control you, that can only lead to regret."

After hearing Haku's heartfelt plea, Naruto starts to calm down and change back to normal. Upon seeing that Naruto has calmed down Haku releases him from the hug. Naruto then turns around to face Haku, seeing that her eyes were filled with sorrow, caused Naruto to feel guilty for letting his rage consume him. Putting him hand on her shoulder, he only said to words "I'm sorry…"

Naruto then pulled Haku into a hug while saying "and thank-you, Haku-chan." _'You to Baa-chan.'_

Sasuke just stood there in shock for a moment before replying with "You really are a loser. You go and accuse my clan of murder, for which you have no proof, and then you go and let those girls, talk you out of picking a fight you know you can't win, pathetic."

Naruto releases Haku from the hug and turns to face Sasuke and with a hint of venom in his voice he says "You don't know how lucky you are Sasuke-teme, 'those girls' as you call them probably saved your life."

"They 'Saved my life', don't make me laugh, you couldn't kill me on my worst day." says an irate Sasuke.

"Oh really" says Naruto as he raises his right fist and using his super strength Naruto throws a punch and stops an inch from Sasuke's face. With the condition that Sasuke was in, just the force of the fist moving through the air, was enough to knock Sasuke on his ass.

Tsunade arrives just a few moments later to see Sasuke on his ass, with Naruto standing right in front of him. When Naruto turned around he looked directly into Tsunade's eyes. After Naruto walked over to her, he lowered his head and said "Kaasan, I now understand why you didn't tell me. (Naruto lifted his head to reveal a sad expression) I let my rage consume me, and I almost attacked someone who was defenseless, even though he deserves it."

Tsunade gave her son a hug while saying "It's not your fault Naru-chan, if I had just told you to begin with, you wouldn't have lost it like you did when you saw the Sharingan."

After the embrace Naruto gives his Kaasan a small smile before he turned to Haku and with a heavy heart said "I guess, we should get back to our fight now, huh, Haku-chan."

Haku just lowers her head and with a pained voice says "I guess…"

Before it can go any further Zabuza comes to a decision and walks up to Haku. Placing his hand on her shoulder he says "That's enough Haku."

Haku looked over at Zabuza with a questioning look and said "Zabuza-sama?"

Crossing his arms and turning his head so he is looking out over the bridge Zabuza says "I'm no longer interested in killing the old man."

Haku's eyes widen for a second before a smile comes across her face, she bows and says "Hai, Zabuza-sama."

(With Akira and Shadow)

Akira gets a smug look on her face as she looks over at Shadow "Well, do you believe me now?"

Shadow simple states "There's no question now, that boy is Naruto Uzumaki, Jinchuuriki

of Kyuubi no Youko, and the rightful heir to the Uzumaki Clan. You know, once we finish our mission here, we'll be reporting this to sensei."

Akira just nods her head, and then looks skyward "I wonder how sensei will react to this?"

"Knowing her, she'll probably be pissed at Ba-yu for his decision to engage Tsunade-sama the way he did. Then who knows, but you can guarantee, that she'll want to go and meet him (points to Naruto)."

"You're probably right, but how will we find him again? You can pretty much guarantee, that Tsunade-sama will want to be on the move, as soon as she can."

"Don't worry about that, it's already taken care of." says Shadow as he looks toward the unfinished portion of the bridge. He watches as a horde of men use ropes to climb up the side and get to the main roadway.

Looking closer Shadow sees one of the mercenaries carrying a short man wearing a business suit. "Well, looks like Gato is making a personal appearance, it seems we'll be raping up this mission sooner than expected."

(Back on the Bridge)

Just when Naruto thought everything was going to be alright, he heard a voice say "You're pathetic Zabuza, your little slut has a hard time, and you're ready to throw in the towel. Heh, and you call yourself 'Demon of the Hidden Mist', it's more like scared little puppy."

Zabuza and Haku narrowed their eyes at Gato, and had their weapons at the ready, as Naruto gave Gato a harsh glare for calling Haku a slut. After assessing the situation Naruto mentally curses _'Son of a bitch! Could thing possibly get any worse, Sasuke-teme is in no shape to put up much of a fight. This means he'll have to be guarded along with Tazuna. Haku and I aren't in top fighting condition, Kakashi and Zabuza are probably still a little worn out from their fight earlier. The only ones in top fighting condition are Kaasan, Shizune-neechan, that shy girl, and the fan girl. Things are not looking good.'_

Naruto takes a deep breath and tells everyone his plan "Alright everybody pay attention, I've got an idea about how to survive this. We need to form a defensive perimeter around this side of the bridge or we won't make it. Since Kakashi and Zabuza fought each other, they should have a good idea of their strengths and weaknesses, so I want them to take the left side of the bridge, and since I've fought Haku-chan before, we'll take the center of the bridge, while Kaasan, and Shizune-neechan will take the right side of the bridge, and try to keep the damage to the bridge to a minimum. Remember if the bridge is destroyed, than Gato has essentially won, and I can't think of a better way to piss him off, than to beat the shit out of all his men, while still protecting the bridge."

Tsunade decided to add "Naru-chan, you know I can take all of them by myself, so why not just let me handle it?"

Naruto let out a deep sigh and said "I know the way you fight Kaasan, the bridge would most likely suffer severe damage, or be completely destroyed. That's why I need you to reframe from going all out unless it's absolutely necessary, ok?"

Tsunade crosses her arms and does a little pout "Fine, we'll try it your way, but if thing get out of hand I'm going to take matters into my own hands."

Shaking his head Naruto says "Fine, we'll use that as our back-up plan. Ok, everybody ready?"

"Hey! What about Sasuke-kun and the rest of us." yelled Sakura.

Naruto just looked over at Sakura and says "I thought you would've been able to figure that out for yourself. Since Sasuke-teme is in no condition to fight, I figured you and Hinata, would be in charge of protecting both Tazuna and the bastard."

"Don't call Sasuke-kun that!" shrieked Sakura.

Naruto just rubs the bridge of his nose before saying "We don't have time for this! Everyone just get into position, we can discus stuff like this later, after the danger has passed, alright!"

Gato just stood there and started to laugh "Heh, Heh, Heh, do you honestly think, this little plan of yours will save you? Listen up! I'll give a bonus to whomever, is able to bring me the head of Zabuza, or his little slut, (he grabs his bandaged arm) I still have a score to settle with her"

The mercenaries let out a cheer as the charge the small group of shinobi. As the battle commences we find Naruto and Haku fighting back to back as they take out one mercenary after another. After kicking a mercenary in the head sending him flying away, Naruto looks over his shoulder and asks Haku "Hey Haku-chan, do you think that after this is all over, you and Zabuza-san would be interested in traveling with us?"

Haku's eyes widen when she hears this, it was like a dream come true for her so she says "I'll have to ask Zabuza-sama first, but I can tell you, that I would be interested."

A smile forms on Naruto's face as he dodges a sword swing and counters with an uppercut to the jaw.

Tsunade and Shizune were incapacitating mercenaries left and right as they continued to stand their ground.

While Kakashi and Zabuza were a little more brutal in dispatching the mercenaries. One of mercenaries charged Kakashi with a spear, who simply grabbed a hold of the spear with his left hand; he spun around and nailed the merc. with a back fist to the face. After dispatching the merc. Kakashi simply throws the spear away.

The Spear that Kakashi throw away lands next to Sasuke, who has been gong on a mental rant _'I'm an Uchiha for crying out loud, I should be out there fighting, not sitting on the sidelines, like some useless civilian.'_

Sasuke then looks over to where Naruto is fighting and his anger started to boil over _'It's all his fault, if he wasn't here, than none of this would have happened._ (Eyeing the spear Sasuke came up with a plan)_ I'll make him pay for humiliating me like this!' _Sasuke picks up the spear and uses the last of his strength to hurl it at Naruto.

Busy with dispatching the last of the merc's that were attacking his area, so he failed to notice the spear until it was too late. Before Naruto could react Haku jumped in front of him effectively shielding Naruto from the incoming spear. As the spear pierced her flesh it just barely missed her heart, and when the spear finally exited out of her back it sent her blood spattering onto Naruto's face. Naruto scream's out "NNNOOOOOOO!!!" catching the attention of the rest of there group.

Tsunade and Shizune stopped dead in there tracks as they heard Naruto's yell, seeing what happened, Tsunade couldn't help but get a sick feeling in her stomach, while Shizune brought her hands to her mouth, and got a horrified look on her face.

Kakashi just got a downcast look on his face, while Zabuza just closed his eyes and slightly turned his head.

The surviving Mercenaries decided to take this opportunity to retreat and regroup back by Gato.

As Haku fell to the ground Naruto was able to catch her and after he removed the spear he gently laid her on the ground. As her head touched the ground she coughed up some blood, looking up into Naruto's face she says "A-Are you alright (cough) N-Naruto-kun?"

Wiping some of the blood off her face Naruto tries to heal her while he simply says "I'm fine Haku-chan, but you need to conserve you're strength."

"(cough, cough) Well…, it looks like (cough, cough) I won't be able to… travel with you after all…. Naruto-kun……….." Haku's voices trails off as she loses consciousness.

Fearing the worst Naruto checks her vitals _'She still got a pulse, it's weak but it's still there. Her injuries are too extensive to use regular healing methods, so there's only one choice. Baa-chan! _Give me all the chakra I can handle NOW!!'

Knowing what Naruto had planned Kyuubi says **"You haven't mastered it yet Kit. If you don't regulate the Chakra just right, you'll not only fry her Chakra coils, but you'll fry yours as well."**

'_I know that, but it the only option we have at this point in time. Kaasan wouldn't make it in time and she's fading fast, so please Baa-chan just give me the chakra.'_

Naruto didn't need a verbal response from Kyuubi because he could already feel her chakra starting to flow through him. So Naruto closed hi eyes and concentrated all of Kyuubi's Chakra in his hands to glowing red orbs encompassed his palms, then three claw like blades extended from the tips of the orbs. When he felt it was ready Naruto opened his eyes and plunged the claws into Haku's wound while saying "Chiyu Tsume" (Healing Claw).

You could see the strain on Naruto's face as he struggled to regulate the flow of Chakra into Haku's body as well as shape the Chakra so it would heal her wounds. By the time Tsunade made it to Naruto, she was amazed to see that her wounds were almost completely healed. As the wound finally finished healing Naruto canceled the jutsu, and collapsed on the ground gasping for air.

Seeing his opportunity to strike Gato decides to pull out his trump card. "Shadow! Come out of hiding, and finish these troublemakers off!"

'_Well, I guess its show time' _Standing up straight Shadow disappears into the shadows.

Reappearing next to Gato Shadow says "I don't think so, it's time I finish this mission."

Gato turns around surprised by Shadow's comment, but before he can say anything, Shadow has already used a dagger to slice off his head. As the body falls to the ground Shadow uses his speed to decapitate the rest of Gato's army before they can even react.

Picking up Gato's head Shadow seals it into a scroll and puts it in his cloak. Turning toward Naruto's group Shadow does a simple bow and says "Please accept this as an apology, for all the trouble my teammates have caused you, and I'm looking forward to our next encounter, Naruto-sama, until we meet again." and then disappears into the shadows.

After regaining his breath and recovering from the shock of what just happened Naruto went over to check on Haku, with Tsunade's help he learned that the jutsu was a complete success, the wound has been completely healed and to Tsunade's amazement there won't even be a scar, it's like she was never even pierced with the spear.

Now that Naruto knew that Haku was out of danger, Naruto went straight up to Sasuke grabbed him by the collar of his shirt, and slammed hi against one of the supporting pillars.

"YOU BASTARD! You were aiming that spear at me, weren't you!" screamed Naruto.

Sasuke just looks on impassively and says "I don't know what you're talking about."

"That's right, Sasuke-kun would never aim it at a comrade, he was probably trying to get one of those mercenaries, and you simple got in his way." **"Yeah that's right Cha!" **says Sakura.

"P-P-Please don't fight l-like this. I-I-I'm sure Sasuke-san didn't mean to throw it at you, Naruto-san." said Hinata as she tried to play peacemaker.

Kakashi put his hand on Naruto's shoulder and said "Put Sasuke down Naruto, I didn't see what happened, but how do you know it was him? It could have been thrown by one of the mercenaries."

That's when Tsunade decided to add her two cents in "You've got to be kidding me Kakashi! The spear was thrown from behind him, none of those men ever made it past our line of defense!"

Kakashi turned to face Tsunade and said "Did you see Sasuke aim the spear at Naruto, Tsunade-sama?"

"Well no, but from what I saw after Naru-chan yelled, I would say that it's the only possible conclusion."

Kakashi just shook his head and added "But, that's your opinion Tsunade-sama, and according to Konoha law, you need some kind of physical evidence, before charging a Shinobi with any kind of crime. You know what the penalty is, if this law is broken."

Tsunade just glared at Kakashi and said "Are you threatening me Kakashi?"

Naruto was listening to the conversation between Kakashi and Tsunade, and after hearing what Kakashi said, Naruto decided not to cause any unnecessary trouble for his Kaasan.

"Fine, I'll let him go, but I'm warning you now Sasuke-teme, if you hurt anyone that I care about again, the village won't be able to save you, from my wrath." and with that Naruto slammed Sasuke hard enough against the pillar to cause Sasuke to cough up some blood and then throw him to the ground.

Tsunade just looked at Naruto before saying "Are you sure Naru-chan? I mean he did try to kill you, and he almost killed your friend over there."

Letting out a sigh Naruto said "I really don't have a choice, with Sasuke-teme hiding behind the protection of Konoha, I really can't do anything to him. I mean even with Zabuza's and Haku-chan's help, we're not strong enough to take on Konoha. So for now, I'll have to abide by their rules."

Tsunade reluctantly nodded her head and says "Fine."

Seeing that the situation has calmed down somewhat, Tazuna decides to speak "I think with all that's happened today, we should head back home, and take the rest of the day off. We'll start work on the bridge tomorrow." turning to Zabuza he adds "Since you helped defend the bridge and my life you're than welcome to stay with us."

Seeing no other option Zabuza agrees and after helping with the clean up they all head back to Tazuna's house.

While Naruto carries Haku, he can't help but feel a sense of happiness wash over him as his paced slowed down, he couldn't help but think _'Well Haku-chan, I was able to keep my promise after all. Once you're fully rested we'll have to ask Zabuza about traveling together for awhile, who knows, maybe he'll even agree to become part of the group, and then that way we won't have to worry about saying goodbye to each other.' _

Naruto couldn't help but have a smile on his face has he picked up his pace to rejoin the others.

Next Chapter: A New Rival Appears! Enter Yugito!

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Author's note 2: Well that was defiantly my longest chapter to date, I hope you liked it. Anyway the pairing for this fic. will be Naru/Haku. I really don't have anything else to add, so I hope to see you all here for the next chapter of Konoha's Mistake.

I hope you all liked the little revision I did to it, after reading it this morning I saw it needed some changes and went ahead and did them.


	9. Ch9: A New Rival Appears! Enter Yugito!

-1

"Speech"

'_Thoughts'_

**Demon/Summon/inner Sakura speech**

_**Demon/Summon thoughts**_

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or any of the characters created by Kishimoto, but all OC's are my own creation.

TheDon1023: To answer your question, both Tsunade and Shizune will never abandon Naruto, so if he joins a different village, they will be joining him. In case you were wondering the same holds true for Anko as well, if she is forced to choose between Naruto and Konoha, she'll stick with Naruto. I have a couple of reasons for this, the main one will be revealed in chapter 11.

Intelligo: Kakashi will give Sasuke a talking to in this chapter.

Himuradono: I have plans for the Uchiha, so he has to live for now.

Kingkakashi: I had Zabuza survive for just that reason, Naruto needs a brother figure and Zabuza will eventually start to take that role.

Author's note: Sorry about the delay in updating but I've had to rework Naruto's encounter with Yugito a couple of times so that it would be believable, (I had three different version of this encounter), also I want to thank all the reviews that help point out the flaws in my first draft of the last chap. and I hope you all liked the revised version. Anyway I split this arc into to chapters, and I'm hoping to have part two out before the end of the week.

Anyway let's get on with the story.

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Chapter 9: A New Rival Appears! Enter Yugito!

Haku slowly opens her eyes only to squint as the light hits her eyes. While her eyes adjust to the light she starts to wonder _'What happened? Last thing I remember was, Naruto-kun wiping some blood of my face, as it was getting harder to breath, and then…'_

Haku sat straight up in bed as three words left her lips "Am I dead?"

After her eyes adjusted to the light, Haku looked around the room she spots Naruto sleeping in a chair by the doorway. _'Naruto-kun? Than that means…I'm alive!?'_

"I see you're awake." came the voice of Tsunade as she walked into the room and up to the bed.

When Haku tries to get up, Tsunade puts her hand on Haku's shoulder and stops her before saying "Easy now, with all the stress your chakra system been under, you need to take it easy for awhile."

Feeling Tsunade's hand on her shoulder, that fact that she survived really sunk in. Looking up into Tsunade's eyes Haku couldn't ask "How? How am I still alive? I know that spear pierced my chest, so how did I survive?"

Tsunade lets a smile cross her face as she points over her shoulder to the sleeping form of Naruto and says "You have my son, Naru-chan to thank for that, he used a new healing technique he created, to heal your wounds. It's really quite a remarkable jutsu, as long as the subject is still alive, it has the ability to completely heal them, there are a couple of drawbacks however, the first one is the amount of control needed to perform it, one slip in that control, and it could not only fry the subjects chakra coils, but the user's as well. The second drawback is, that because of the huge amount of chakra being used, it seems to put a great deal of strain on the chakra pathways, so I don't want you to use your chakra for awhile, that way your chakra network has time to recover."

Haku just bowed her head and said "Hai, Naruto-kun's Kaasan."

Tsunade just chuckled a little before saying "You can just call me Tsunade."

"Hai, Tsunade-san." said Haku as she got a smile on her face.

Just then they heard a noise coming from behind Tsunade before a voice said "Haku-chan, you're awake!"

"Thank-you for saving my life, Naruto-kun." said Haku as she bows her head.

Seeing Naruto get a slight blush and start to rub the back of his head, Tsunade decided to excuse herself, and leaves the room.

(Outside Haku's room)

As Tsunade exit's the room she notices Zabuza leaning against the wall right next to the doorway.

"How's Haku doing?" asks Zabuza who never took his eyes off the opposite wall.

Glancing over at Zabuza, Tsunade replies "Her chakra network was put under a great deal of stress, but a few days of rest and she should be back to normal. By the way she's awake now, if you want to see her."

Zabuza averted his gaze so that he could see into the room behind him, where Naruto and Haku were having a conversation, when he noticed how happy Haku seemed to be around Naruto. Turning his gaze back to the wall he says "I noticed that the boy, doesn't have a sword style."

"His name's Naruto, and what are you getting at?" interrupted Tsunade.

Continuing to stare at the wall Zabuza says "If it's alright with you, I'll train the boy in the art of the sword."

Tsunade just looked at him for a few seconds before asking "Why do you want to train Naru-chan?"

"I always pay my debts." said Zabuza as he pushed off the wall and starts to walk away "Tell him we start our training this afternoon."

Letting a smile cross her face Tsunade thinks _'I see, so, this is your way of saying thank you.'_

(Back with Naruto and Haku)

As Naruto finished up his story about what happened after Haku lost consciousness, Haku blushed a bit at the part where Naruto told Sasuke about what would happen if he ever hurt someone that Naruto cared about.

After Naruto was done talking, Haku had to ask about the red chakra "Naruto-kun?"

"Yes Haku-chan?"

"What was that red chakra that you used, when you went after the Uchiha?"

Naruto just lowered his head as he thought _'If I tell her about Kyuubi, she might end up hating me.'_

"**You should trust her kit, I don't think she'll hold that against you."**

'_But…'_

"**Trust me kit, she'll understand."**

Taking a deep breath Naruto came to his decision "Haku-chan, how much do you know about the Kyuubi no Youko's attack on Konoha, about fourteen and a half years ago?"

Looking on in curiosity Haku replies "Not much, just that their Yondaime Hokage was able to kill the Kyuubi."

Keeping his head lowered Naruto continued "That's not the truth, I have no idea why they lied, but the truth is no one can kill a Bijuu. So, the Yondaime Hokage did the only thing he could, to save _that_ village. He sealed it into a newborn baby, ones whose umbilical cord was freshly cut."

Realization dawned on Haku as to what he was implying, but before Haku could say anything Naruto continued "If you haven't guessed already, I was the one that he chose, he sealed the Kyuubi no Youko in me."

After Naruto said those words he just sat there waiting for Haku's response. Meanwhile Haku just looked into his eyes and saw the hint of fear in them _'Is he afraid that I'll hate him now?'_

Shaking her head, Haku gets out of bed and walks over and gives Naruto a hug before saying "That doesn't matter to me Naruto-kun, no matter what anyone says, you are still you, and don't ever forget that."

A single tear ran down Naruto's face as a smiled formed and he said "Thank-you Haku-chan."

Feeling the tension dissipate Haku releases the hug and decides to change the subject "So Naruto-kun, do you think it would be possible, for me to get out of this room, and get some fresh air?"

"I don't see a problem, but let me go ask my Kaasan if it's alright. I'll be right back." said Naruto as he gets up and heads out of the room.

(Out in the Woods)

We find Sasuke throwing punches and kicks at a tree as he thinks _'How!? How is he so strong!? Where does his power come from!?'_ Sasuke slams his fist into the tree _'Damn it! What have I been doing all this time!?'_

His thoughts were interrupted when a voice said "So, this is where you ran off too."

Kakashi comes out of the woods and walked up to Sasuke and in a serious voice says "We need to talk Sasuke."

Sasuke just looked at him and said "About what?"

"It's about your conduct on the bridge." says Kakashi as Sasuke just glares at him. Kakashi just lets out a sigh while thinking _'I thought as much.'_

"You need to grow-up." says Kakashi as he looks into Sasuke's eyes.

"What!" Sasuke says through gritted teeth.

Kakashi grabs Sasuke's arm and holds it behind his back while saying "Look Sasuke, you need to lose this superiority complex you seem to have, otherwise not only will you lose your life, but you'll be putting your comrades lives in danger as well."

Sasuke remained silent as he looked over his shoulder at Kakashi. _'I won't die until I've avenged my clan.'_

Seeing the look in Sasuke's eyes Kakashi continues "You're just going to have to except the fact, that in this world, there are going to be people out there, be they shinobi or not, that are stronger than you. Once you except that fact, than you'll cease to underestimate your opponent, and then you'll be able to progress to the next level."

The moment Kakashi finished his lecture, his eyes narrowed and he turned his head to look behind him, only to see a tree branch move as if someone had just jumped off of it.

'_Looks like we have another visitor, but are they friend, or foe?'_ turning his head back around, he releases Sasuke's arm before saying "Alright that's the end of the lecture, so lets head over to the bridge and see how Sakura is doing. Her shift is just about over anyway, so we'll do some training, and I'll teach you and Sakura how to water walk, while we're there."

Sasuke just grunts and they head off toward the bridge.

(Somewhere in the woods)

A young woman is jumping along the trees, deep in thought. _'That was close, I was almost spotted by Sharingan Kakashi. I don't need any unnecessary trouble, at least not until I locate my target.'_

"**A wise precaution Yugito, but that shinobi may also be after our prey. What will you do, if that's the case?"**

Yugito gets a smile on her face and says "If that's the case, then they'll discover what it's like to fight a Jinchuuriki, won't they Nibi?"

"**Indeed they will Yugito, indeed they will."**

Yugito's smile got a little bigger as she continues to search for her prey.

(Back with Naruto)

As Naruto walked into the living room, he see Tsunade and Shizune sitting at the table in the middle of a discussion.

"But Tsunade-sama, until we find out what those shinobi want with Naruto-kun. I don't think we should make him worry needlessly." said Shizune.

Tsunade puts her elbows on the table and rests her chin on her hands as she says "I won't make the same mistake twice Shizune. I didn't tell Naru-chan, who was responsible for launching that attack on him, and look what happened. Naru-chan's going to know what we know, and that's final."

"Hai Tsunade-sama." says Shizune as Tsunade shifted her gaze to the door and says "Well, now that that's out of the way. How's Haku doing Naru-chan?"

Naruto just shakes his head before saying "She's fine, but she would like to get some fresh air."

"That's fine, as long as she has someone with her, it shouldn't be a problem. But Naru-chan before you go back, there's something we need to discuss." says Tsunade in a serious tone.

Naruto just nods his head and takes a seat. "Is it about those mystery shinobi?"

"Yes it is Naru-chan, but all we know right now is that they seem to be very interested in you."

"Not only that Kaasan, but I remember that lady called me 'Naruto-sama', and also refused to fight either Shizune-neechan or my clone when he arrived."

Shizune looked over at Naruto before saying "Speaking of which, Naruto-kun, what kind of clones were they?"

"Well, I used Baa-chan's chakra, and infused it with my Kage Bunshin no Jutsu, and you saw the result, they are a lot tougher and are able to create there own Kage Bunshin's, not only that, but we have a direct mental link, so that as soon as they learn something, I know it as well." says Naruto as he gets a grin on his face.

After hearing all that Tsunade decided to get this conversation back on track "Anyway let's get back to the matter at hand. Until we learn more about these shinobi, we can't really take any kind of action, so if any of us come across them, I want you to flare your chakra, that way, the others will know, and come running, so none of us will have to face them alone."

"That sounds like a plan to me. Now if you'll excuse me, I'll go and take Haku-chan for some fresh air." says Naruto as he gets up from the table and heads towards Haku's room.

Tsunade couldn't help but get a smile on her face as she sees Naruto walk off. "Have a good time Naru-chan, but I need you back here by noon, it seems that Zabuza, wants to train you in the art of the sword."

Naruto stopped for a moment and said "Really? Cool, I always wanted to learn how to use a Kodachi." He then continued on his way to Haku's room.

(300 yard away from the house)

Two figures were perched on a tree branch using a pair of binoculars to look in on Naruto.

"Well Akira, it looks like Naruto-sama, didn't suffer any side effects from that jutsu he used to heal that Haku girl. He's just full of surprises isn't he." says Shadow as he lowers his binoculars.

"I know, I didn't think their was a jutsu out there, that could repair the amount of damage done to that girl. I just wish, we could get closer, so we can find out what their response will be the next time we meet." said Akira as she stands up from her squatting position.

Shaking his head Shadow responds "That would be too risky, as you said, because of Ba-yu's rash actions, we don't know want their response will be. So, it's better to hang back, and let thinks cool off, besides we need to report this to Sensei, I'm sure she'll know the right course of action to take."

Akira just nods her head in agreement "We'd better get back to our designated meeting place, I'm sure Ba-yu, is already getting impatient."

"Alright, lets go." says Shadow as both head off to there meeting place.

(Meeting place deep in the woods)

Ba-yu was leaning against a tree waiting when his other team members showed up.

He just looked over at them and with a slight irritation in his voice says "About time you guys got here. What took you so long?"

"Sorry, but we had to check up on Naruto-sama, and see if he was alright." said Akira.

Ba-yu just shakes his head before saying "You know, since I'm the leader, I still think we should take him with us."

Shadow looked Ba-yu straight in the eyes and said "Are you kidding me? After what you pulled, we'd be lucky to get within twenty feet of Naruto-sama, before Tsunade-sama kicked our asses. So, let's just go and report this to Sensei, so she can decide the best course of action to take."

Closing his eyes and letting out a sigh Ba-yu says "Fine, at our top speed, it should take us about a week to get back home. Alright everyone lets move out!" and with that the three shinobi head off.

(With Naruto and Haku)

Naruto and Haku are walking through the woods when they hear the sounds of someone crying. Letting curiosity get the better of them they decide to go and investigate.

When they reached the clearing that the crying was coming from, they found Hinata sitting under a tree, hugging her knees close to her chest and her head lowered resting on her knees.

Haku was the first to react to this by walking up to her, placing a hand on Hinata's shoulder she says "Hey, are you alright?"

Startled by the sudden contact and the question, Hinata quickly jumps up and gets behind the tree before saying "I-I'm sorry, I-I didn't mean to b-bother you."

Naruto raised an eyebrow while thinking _'Okay, that was a little weird.'_

"**That girl's got some major confidence issues kit." **Kyuubi said while shaking her head.

'_You're telling me, I'm starting to feel sorry for the girl. Look Baachan, I now she from Konoha and all, but I can't help but wonder, if we shouldn't help her build some confidence.'_

"**You just can't stand to see people suffer, can you kit?" **says Kyuubi as she puts her head in her hand.

'_You know me to well Baachan, but if Konoha is responsible for Hinata's lack of confidence, I can't just sit back, and let them get away with it.'_

Naruto's conversation was interrupted when Haku tapped him on the shoulder and said "Naruto-kun, are you even listening to me?"

Shaking his head Naruto says "Sorry Haku-chan, what were you saying?"

Haku let out a sigh before saying "I was saying that she wasn't bothering us, and that we had come over here to find out why she was crying."

Naruto nods his head in agreement and says "That's right, so, why don't you tell us what's bothering you Hinata."

Whipping some tears off her face, Hinata just looked at the two in shock, no one has ever asked about her welfare before, so she wasn't quite sure how she should react.

Before Hinata could answer however, Haku spoke up "If you don't want to tell us, that alright, we were just concerned that you were hurt or something."

"N-No, I-I'm not hurt. I-I-It's just that, I-I'm such a failure, I-I don't understand, w-why you would waste your time with me?" says a meek Hinata.

"A failure? What are you talking about? If it's about the encounter on the bridge, you preformed your job, and your mission ended in success, so how can you call yourself a failure." says Naruto.

Hinata lowered her head, as she blushed at the complement but then she said "P-Please don't say such things Naruto-san, I-I was ready to run from battle, t-then, w-when all of you were f-fighting, I-I just stood there and did nothing."

Naruto took a step closer to Hinata, only to cause her to shrink behind the tree further. Letting out a sigh Naruto stopped and stepped back to his original position before saying "Look Hinata, I don't know were you got it in your head, but just because you feel fear during battle, doesn't make you a failure. In fact, if I remember correctly, you were still holding your ground, when I arrived, while that Sakura girl had already started to take a few steps back."

Seeing that they were getting nowhere Haku decided to try another approach "Hinata-san, why don't you spar with Naruto-kun here, that way we can give you a fair evaluation of your skills, and prove to you, that you're not a failure."

"That's sounds like a great idea, come on, I know the perfect spot, so, what do you say Hinata, you want to spar?" says Naruto with a hint of hope in his voice.

Not wanting to start a conflict Hinata agrees and the three head of toward Naruto's chosen sparring ground.

As the group entered a clearing next to a lake, Naruto starts to feel as though he was being watched. _'Hey Baachan, I can't get a fix on this feeling, so do you think you could try and see if you can locate the one responsible?'_

"**I can try kit, but if this feeling is being caused by someone, then they are a master of stealth, so it won't be easy." **said Kyuubi as she starts to use her senses to try and locate anything out of the ordinary.

'_Thanks Baachan, now lets see how good Hinata really is.'_ thinks Naruto as he gets into his ready stance.

Hinata got into her stance and nervously waited for Naruto to start, while Haku went and sat down on a rock.

When Naruto saw Hinata's stance, he just shook his head, from what he saw, the stance itself was perfect, but he could tell from the slight tremors in her arm that she already expected him to break through her defense.

'_What the hell did they do to this girl? It's like she's expecting to fail. Man, I've got my work cut out for me.'_ "Alright Hinata, lets see what you got." says Naruto as he motioned her to attack him.

Recognizing what Naruto wanted her to do, Hinata launched her attack. As Naruto block's Hinata's blows he notices that she is holding back. So on the next palm strike, Naruto grabs her wrist and says "That was pretty good Hinata, but you need to stop holding back, otherwise I'll win this spar."

"H-Hai N-Naruto-san." said Hinata as Naruto releases her wrist.

"Hinata, please don't call me san, I never did like that suffix, you can call me Naruto, or if you must use a suffix, call me Naruto-kun, alright." Naruto says as he gets back into his fighting stance.

Hinata meekly replies with "H-Hai Naruto-sa-k-kun."

Naruto get a smile on his face as he says "That better Hinata, now lets continue shall we."

(Hiding in the trees nearby)

Yugito is perched on a branch looking at the group with great interest. Turning her attention to Haku talks to Nibi _'According to the Intel we have, that girl is the subordinate of our prey. If I can interrogate her, than I'll be able to find out where Zabuza is hiding.'_

"**That's true Yugito, but be careful of that blond haired boy, I'm getting a weird feeling from him, he could be dangerous."**

Shaking her head Yugito responds with _'Are you sure Nibi? He doesn't look that special to me.'_

"**Just be careful Yugito."**

'_Yeah, I hear you, now lets get started.'_ thinks Yugito as she starts to make her way around to get behind Haku.

(Back in the clearing)

Naruto had just did a sweep and knocked Hinata down, when she got back up, he could see the look of defeat in her eyes "Hinata, let me give you a piece of advise, no matter how bleak the situation is, never give up. As long as you never give up, you'll always achieve your goal, and become a stronger person in the process."

"B-But I-I…"

"No buts Hinata, it may take some time, but I give you my word, I'll help you along the way." says Naruto with a small smile on his face.

Hinata looked at Naruto with wide eye and a bit of aw before saying "A-Are you serious, N-Naruto-sa-kun."

Naruto just stands up straight and says "I'm serious, because, I never go back on my word."

Just as Naruto finished saying this Kyuubi was able to locate the stranger's position. **"Kit! There behind Haku!"**

Naruto quickly turns around and shouts "Haku-chan! Behind you!"

Haku's eyes widen at Naruto's sudden outburst _'What! Damn it, I let my guard down!"_

As Haku finished that thought she turned around just in time to see a gas bomb go off at her feet, before she lost consciousness.

Yugito quickly went in and grabbed Haku before she hit the ground, and then ran off to find a place to interrogate her.

By the time the smoke cleared Haku was gone. Naruto quickly turned to Hinata and said "Hinata! I need you to go find my Kaasan, and tell her what happened, while I track down that shinobi, let her know that I'll leave a trail for her to follow."

Hinata started to poke her index fingers together while saying "B-But Naruto-kun, I-I'll just screw it up, a-and cause you even more trouble."

"Look Hinata, we don't have time for this. I'm counting on you to inform Kaasan, so she'll come and back me up. I know you can do this, trust Me." says Naruto as he starts to search for Haku's chakra signature.

Seeing the reassurance in his eyes Hinata started to feel like she wouldn't screw this up, so she said "O-Ok Naruto-kun, i-if you think I can do this, t-than I'll try."

"That's all I ask, now hurry." says Naruto as he gets a lock on Haku's location, and then he head off in pursuit, while Hinata runs toward Tazuna's house.

(Somewhere in the woods)

Yugito was jumping from tree to tree when she finds the perfect spot to conduct her interrogation. After securing Haku to a tree, Yugito waves some smelling salts under Haku's nose.

As Haku regains consciousness she says "Where? Where am I?"

Putting the smelling salts away Yugito says "Well, now that you're awake, you're going to tell me everything I want to know. Starting with the location of your boss, tell me where Zabuza is."

Haku just glared at the foreign shinobi and remained quite.

Yugito just shakes her head while saying "If you won't give me the information willingly, that's fine. I have ways of making you talk."

(With Naruto)

Naruto landed on a branch and stared straight ahead _'Looks like they've finally come to a stop, good, cause when I get my hands on them, I going to make them regret taking Haku-chan.'_

"**Be careful kit, theirs something strange about that shin obi, I can't put my finger on it, but she's dangerous."**

'_I know, I've got the same feeling, but I'm going to rescue Haku-chan, and nothing is going to stop me, that's a promise.' _Naruto tells Kyuubi as he marks a tree, and then heads off toward there location _'Hang on Haku-chan, I'll be there soon.'_

(Tazuna's House)

Tsunade was sitting at the table drinking some sake, and wishing that there was a gambling parlor nearby, so she could go and have some fun. When Zabuza walks in and says "This sucks, there's not a single blacksmith in this town. I guess we'll have to wait until we reach the next town, before I can get that boy of yours a sword. Speaking of which, where the hell is the brat, his training starts soon."

Just as he finished that sentence Hinata come bursting through the front door. Taking a few seconds to catch her breath Hinata says "T-Tsunade-sama, s-someone has k-kidnapped H-Haku-san, a-and Naruto-kun, r-ran after them."

Tsunade on in front of Hinata in the blink of an eye as she said "What! Where did this happen?"

"B-By a clearing, n-near a lake, N-Naruto-kun said he would mark a path, f-for you to follow."

"Take us to this clearing now! Shizune! Zabuza! Are you ready?" says Tsunade as she looks around to check on the other two, receiving nods the group ran out the door and with Hinata leading the way they headed to the clearing.

(With Yugito and Haku)

Haku receives another backhand to the face as Yugito starts to get irritated at Haku's silence.

"Come on girl, just tell me where Zabuza is, and this will all be over." says Yugito as Haku responds by spitting in her face. This causes Yugito to hit Haku again resulting in a busted lip for Haku.

Just then Naruto lands in the area, as he stands up straight and looks Yugito in the eyes he says "Let Haku-chan go, NOW!"

"Sorry, I can't do that kid, not until I get the information I'm looking for."

"This is your last warning stranger, let Haku-chan go, or suffer the consequences." said a pissed off Naruto.

Yugito doesn't respond instead she launches a series of punches and kicks directed at Naruto torso and head.

'_She fast'_ where the thoughts of Naruto as he barely managed to dodge her assault before launching a spinning round house kick that connected with Yugito's chin sending her flying into a tree before hitting the ground.

Seeing her start to get up he says "And that was only a fraction of my true strength, if I had used my full power, your jaw bone would be completely shattered. So, I'll say it again, release Haku-chan, and I'll let you walk out of here."

Getting to her feet Yugito wipes the blood from her chin while thinking _'Damn! What the hell is this kid?' _

Yugito gets a smile on her face as she says "You're stronger than I thought kid, but you should know better than to pick a fight you can't win."

As Yugito starts to call on some of Nibi's chakra, Naruto looks on in shock before Kyuubi says **"Looks like my feeling was right kit, you'll need to stay on your toes for this one, because she's got a demon sealed inside of her."**

"So, I guess, I'm not the only one after all." says Naruto as he calls on some of Kyuubi's chakra.

Yugito was caught off guard by his comment, but when she saw red chakra coming off the boy her only thought was _'Don't tell me! He's a Jinchuuriki as well!'_

(In the forest with Tsunade)

Tsunade had just passed another mark left by Naruto when she felt the Kyuubi's chakra flare. Now she was really worried _'Damn it! What the hell is going on over there!?' _

"We have to hurry! Naruto's in trouble!" said Tsunade as she increased her speed.

A cold shiver ran down the spine of Shizune as she heard Tsunade's words _'This must be bad. Tsunade-sama only uses Naruto-kun's full name, when she's really worried.'_ Looking off into the distance Shizune speeds up _'Hang in there Naruto-kun, we'll be there soon.'_

(Back with Naruto)

Then two Jinchuuriki were trading hard blows left and right. When Yugito came in with a flying side kick, Naruto grab's her leg and then lands an uppercut on Yugito.

After Yugito skids to a halt, she slams her fist into the ground _'I've had enough of this!' _Yugito then starts to draw out even more of Nibi's chakra, transforming into her Jinchuuriki form.

Now in her Bijuu form Yugito launches a fiery spectral blast from her mouth. Naruto was just able to dodge this blast when he sees another one coming.

"YOU HAVE GOT TO BE KIDDING ME!" says Naruto as he rolls out of the way and avoids the blast.

'_What the hell Baachan!'_

"**Looks like this girl, is able to transform herself into the form of the demon she contains."**

'_No shit Baachan, I can see that already! How the hell am I going to fight that thing, I can't use Katsuyu, she to slow to dodge these attacks. That only leaves me with one option. I hate to have to rely on you like this Baachan, but it's time for more drastic measures.' _

Knowing what Naruto had planned Kyuubi said **"Kit are you sure, your body hasn't gotten use to using that much power yet. You do this, and you'll be putting your body under a huge amount of stress, and once you stop using my chakra you'll most likely collapse from exhaustion."**

'_I know Baachan, but this is my only choice.'_

After Naruto finished that line of thought he started to gather even more of Kyuubi's Chakra. His eyes turned red as his whisker like birthmarks became deeper and more pronounced, the chakra Naruto gathered started to form a tail behind him.

Yugito looked on in wonder as she saw another tail form from the chakra, and then there was this large explosion as the very ground around Naruto started to get ripped to shreds as a third tail appeared.

Naruto raised his head to look Yugito in the eyes, bearing his new fangs and charges Yugito while growling **"It's time we finish this!"**

Next Chapter: Jinchuuriki Battle: Nibi vs. Kyuubi!

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Author's note2: Well here's my take on how Naruto first meets Yugito. Man, I had a lot happen in wave don't I. Anyway there battle will rap up in the chap. and I'll be revealing the mystery sensei, which will explain her relationship to the Uzumaki clan. So I hope to see you for the next chapter.


	10. Ch10:Jinchuuriki Battle:Nibi vs Kyuubi!

-1

"Speech"

'_Thoughts'_

**Demon/Summon/inner Sakura speech**

_**Demon/Summon thoughts**_

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or any of the characters created by Kishimoto, but all OC's are my own creation.

battousai222: It will just be Naru/femHaku, but others might try to get Naruto's attention.

Halfas Rule: No, Yugito will survive.

dragoon-zerox: Yes Sasuke will still learn Chidori, but the reasons for him learning it will be completely different. Yes Naruto is going to ask Anko if she can help Hinata. Now as for Anko finding out about the attack on Naruto, lets just say the Hokage will do his best so she doesn't find out because as much as he'll agree with her point of view, he can't let his shinobi go around killing each other.

TheDon1023: Kurenai has been trying to help Hinata but hasn't been able to get through to her, because of all the restrictions that Hinata's father has placed on her. As for Naruto giving Yugito a warning, he is use to fighting people who are easily intimidated (ex. back in ch 5 the two thugs he rescued Tsunami from), so he's use too people just running away at the smallest display of power. Fighting enemy ninja's is new to him, so he's going to make some mistakes. As for Naruto being marked as a missing nin by Konoha, I really haven't decided yet, but if that happens it won't be until after the Sasuke retrieval arc. Now onto your sword question, for now he will be using a kodachi, but after certain events Naruto will start to carry around a bigger sword.

SCAR OF THE BLACK RIGHT HAND: Sasuke's major beat down will happen in the finals of the Chunin Exams, but there will also be a brief encounter in the forest of death.

Authors note: Well I hope that answers most of your questions, as I said in the last chapter the mystery Sensei will be revealed in this chapter, and that should answer a couple of other questions that have been asked. Not much else to add right now so on with the story.

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Chapter 10: Jinchuuriki Battle: Nibi vs. Kyuubi!

As Tsunade and the others ran through the forest, there was a sudden burst of wind that started to throw debris at them. Using her arms to protect her face Shizune suddenly realized what was happening.

She looked over at Tsunade and said "TSUNADE-SAMA!"

"I know Shizune! Naruto must have released 'its' power!" said Tsunade as she looked back at the rest of the group.

Zabuza sliced through some debris as he said "What the hell are you talking about!?"

Tsunade completely demolishes a tree trunk that was flying at her before she said "This was all caused by Naruto."

"What!" said Zabuza as the wind started to die down.

Not bothering to answer Zabuza, Tsunade simply turned around and ran off in the direction that the wind originated from. _'Hang on Naruto, I'll be there soon.'_

After Tsunade ran off, Shizune looked over at Zabuza only to see a 'What the hell's going on' look plastered all over his face, so she takes a beep breath and begins to explain things.

"You see, Naruto has a unique ability, he has the ability, to use a secondary Chakra source, that is far more powerful than his regular Chakra, but prolonged usage at high levels, can lead to extreme exhaustion." explained Shizune.

Looking Shizune in the eyes Zabuza said "So, you're telling me, that he's a Jinchuuriki."

Shizune's eyes widened in shock, and then Zabuza let out a sigh before saying "I thought so."

"How…."

"I've had past experience with Jinchuuriki, so I know all about their ability to use the Bijuu's chakra." said Zabuza as he turned and followed the path that Tsunade took.

Shizune quickly followed Zabuza while her thoughts dwelled on what he said. _'So,_ _he's encountered Jinchuuriki before huh. With all that's happening, it's a good thing that Tsunade-sama, had Hinata return to the house, she's not ready for this.' _Picking up her pace Shizune starts to worry about Naruto _'Please be careful Naruto-kun.'_

(With Naruto)

Yugito was just barely able to dodge Naruto's attack, which left a small crater upon impact, then she counters with a fiery spectral blast.

Seeing the blast coming straight at him Naruto started to do a series of hand seals before he shouted out "**Suiton: Daibakufu no Jutsu**" (Grand Waterfall Technique) as a massive amount of water came out of the nearby river.

When the two attacks collided the fiery blast was extinguished and the water continued on toward Yugito. Jumping out of the way Yugito charges Naruto and moves to strike him with her paw.

Naruto sees the attack coming and simply uses his left hand to catch the paw. Looking directly into Yugito's eyes Naruto said "**Why did you take Haku-chan?**"

"That's none of your business!" yelled Yugito while she struggled to free herself.

Naruto narrowed his eyes while saying "**When you took Haku-chan, it became my business.**"

With that said he tightened his grip on the paw, twists his body, and throws her over his shoulder into a rock face on the other side of the clearing.

Yugito shook her head and got to her feet while wondering _'Damn that kid is strong, he has to have had some kind of training to be this good, but who trained him? _(Yugito's eyes widen when she remembers Kakashi) _Of course, those Konoha shinobi, he must be with them.'_ "What does Konoha want with Zabuza?"

"**What?**"said a completely confused Naruto. _'So, she's after Zabuza, but what does Konoha have to do with this?' _

Yugito started to say "Since you're a shinobi from Konoha…" but before she could continue she was interrupted by a sudden burst of Killing Intent coming from Naruto.

"**I am NOT A SHINOBI FROM **_**THAT**_** VILLAGE! For that matter, I don't have an allegiance with any village!**" said a very pissed off Naruto as he charged Yugito.

'_A Jinchuuriki with allegiance to no one!?' _Yugito's thoughts were interrupted when she saw Naruto charge her. Acting on instinct she swung one of her tails at Naruto.

Naruto easily dodged this strike, he then grabbed the tale and proceeded to spin Yugito around several times before he released the tail and sent her flying through several trees.

Yugito was a little slower in getting up this time, realizing that direct assaults will not get her anywhere; she decided to use Haku as a hostage. So she looked at the tree that she tied Haku too, only to receive a shock, for Haku was no longer there.

She quickly scanned the area to see if she could locate her missing hostage. Then on the other side of the clearing she spots Haku standing there with someone who looked a lot like the kid she had been fighting.

'_A Bunshin? When the hell…? Of course, he must have created it before he jumped into the clearing to confront me. He used himself as a decoy, so his clone could sneak around, and free her. Damn, I keep underestimating him.'_

On the other side of the clearing Haku was standing there waiting for Naruto to finish this fight. Naruto's clone saw the look in Haku's eyes and tried to convince her to leave.

"Come on Haku-chan, the boss wanted me to get you to safety." said the clone as he took hold of her arm and tried to take her to safety.

Haku pulled her arm free and said "I'm not going to leave him, it's my fault that he's in this fight to begin with, if I hadn't been so careless…"

"Hey come on Haku-chan, you know the boss doesn't hold you responsible for causing this. In fact, you should be happy that you mean so much to the boss, nothing matters more to him than his friends and family. So, I'm sure he…" said the clone, when all of a sudden he saw a figure blurred right past him, and head toward the fight.

Naruto got so distracted by the information given to him by his clone about this newcomer that his guard dropped slightly. This allowed Yugito to get a hit in that knocked him to the ground.

'_Shit'_ thought Naruto as he saw Yugito capitalize on his mistake, and lunged at him with her paws outstretched, and mouth wide open. When suddenly Yugito got nailed square in the jaw by this interloper who turned out to be none other than Tsunade.

Yugito's head twisted violently to the right as the sound of the jaw bone cracking could be heard. The force of the blow was so intense that it sent her crashing back into the forest.

Seeing the amount of force Tsunade used to hit Yugito, Naruto got to his feet and looked over at her and said "**Remind me to never piss you off Kaasan.**"

"It's too late for that Naruto." said Tsunade as she looked at Naruto to see if there were any visible injuries. _'Thank God, it look's like he's alright.'_

"**Heh, Heh, Heh**" chuckled Naruto as he rubbed the back of his head before a sharp pain went through him. _'Damn, it looks like I'm reaching my limit with Baa-chan's Chakra.'_

When Tsunade saw Naruto wince in pain, a look of concern crossed her face, as she walked over to him she said "Are you ok Naruto?"

Giving one of his trademark smiles Naruto said "**I'll be fine Kaasan, but right now, we need to focus on capturing that shinobi. I want to know why she's after Zabuza.**"

Tsunade looked at the area where Yugito crashed through the forest before she said "You mean to tell me, that Haku was taken, so this person could learn Zabuza's location."

"**It looks that way Kaasan, so lets try to capture her, and find out what she's after.**" said Naruto as the pain subsided.

As Haku watched Tsunade and Naruto talk, Shizune and Zabuza land right next to her. She turned around to face them and saw a relieved look all over Shizune's face and the expressionless face of Zabuza.

Zabuza walked over to Haku and put his hand on her shoulder "I see that you're ok." After he said this he looked over and saw Yugito's Bijuu form trying to get up. _'So, it is her, I thought as much.'_

Yugito shoved the tree trunks off of herself before she grabbed her jaw and yelled in pain.

'_UUUGGGHHH!!!! What the hell hit me!?'_

"**You're lucky that you were using my chakra Yugito, otherwise your jaw bone would be in a million pieces right now." **said Nibi.

'_That's not very reassuring Nibi, anyway, who hit me?'_ thought Yugito as she looked back at where she was fighting Naruto. There she sees a blonde haired woman that looked really familiar, then it hit her.

Her eyes widen in shock as she thought _'Impossible, that can't be the Slug Sannin Tsunade! Damn it, what the hell have I gotten myself into!? _(She looked over to where Haku was and saw Shizune and then narrowed her eyes as she sees Zabuza) _There's no way I can fight this kid and Tsunade, let alone all four of them together. I have to get out of here before they completely overpower me. _She looked in Zabuza's direction)_You got lucky today Zabuza, but that luck won't last forever.'_

When Yugito saw Naruto and Tsunade charge her position, she used her two tails to smash the nearby trees and use them as a shield. She then transforms back to her human form and throws explosive tags, smoke bombs and then throws an unknown vial of liquid at her feet before the smoke completely encompassed her.

Naruto and Tsunade dodged the explosions and then smashed through the last of the tree trunks, which were blocking their path, only to find out that Yugito was already long gone. Naruto tries using his enhanced senses to track her.

He tried to track her by scent only to discover that an unusual smell filled the air that originated from the smashed vial. _'Damn it! She used something to cover up her scent, I can't track her.'_

"**I know kit, it really pisses me off that she got away, but at least we know want she's after, and that she'll be back to finish her mission."** said a seething Kyuubi.

'_You're right Baachan, and next time she won't get away.' _thought Naruto as he looked back at where Yugito had made her escape, that's when Kyuubi's Chakra receded back into the seal, and as he returned to his normal state, he started to feel really tired before he passed out from exhaustion.

The moment Naruto collapse Tsunade was by his side checking to see if he was ok. After confirming that it was just exhaustion she put him on her back and carried him back to the group.

As Tsunade approaches the group Haku sees that she is carrying an unconscious Naruto.

Fearing the worst Haku runs over to them while thinking _'Please let Naruto-kun be alright.'_

"Will he be alright?" asked Haku as she looked on with a concerned expression.

Tsunade let a smile cross her face as she glanced over her shoulder to see his sleeping face before she said "He'll be just fine, he's just exhausted, a few days of rest and he'll be back to normal. Now, let's head back, so we can get him into a bed."

(Somewhere deep in the forest)

Yugito was up in the trees performing some first aid while she pondered the events that just took place.

"**You do know that there will be no way, we'll be able to retrieve Zabuza now, don't you."**

'_I know Nibi, and as much as I want to get even with him, I'm more concerned about that Jinchuuriki we fought. The power he wielded was incredible, he outclassed me in almost everyway, if he had been a little more experienced, I'd probably be their captive right now.'_

"**That's true, and if that chakra belonged to who I think it did, we're lucky to have escaped. For when someone becomes her prey, they don't usually live very long."**

'_Who are you talking about?'_

Nibi remained quite for a moment, she then said **"Kyuubi no Youko."**

Yugito's eyes grew wide when she heard this _'That's not possible, the Kyuubi was destroyed by the Yondaime of Konoha.'_

"**Apparently that isn't the case, in any event you know what you have to do."**

'_I know, Raikage-sama must be informed of this at once.'_ Then Yugito headed back to report this new development.

(Tazuna's House)

Tsunade and the others walked into the house and found out that Kakashi and the rest of team 7 had returned and were sitting at the table.

Kakashi looked up from his book and saw Naruto's sleeping form and said "So, he really did release a huge amount of 'his' chakra, didn't he."

Glancing over at Kakashi, Tsunade said "You knew what was happening, and you didn't even try to help. What kind of person are you Kakashi?"

"My primary mission here is to protect Tazuna, I sensed a shinobi earlier today, and went to watch over him, incase this new arrival was after him." said Kakashi as he went back to reading his book.

Now Tsunade was piss, so she said "So when you felt the fight between Naru-chan, and this new Shinobi, you figured what? Just let them fight it out, and if Naru-chan died in the process, all the better for Konoha, huh."

"That's not what I meant Tsunade-sama, what if that fight was just a diversion, so we would leave the bridge builder unguarded. I couldn't run that risk, so I made a decision, and besides, I knew you would go, and make sure that Naruto was alright." said a defensive Kakashi.

"I didn't say leave the man unguarded, but you could have at least checked it out yourself." said an irate Tsunade.

At this point in time Haku decided to tap Tsunade on the shoulder and said "Excuse me Tsunade-san, but I think we should continue this later, after we get Naruto-kun to bed."

Tsunade felt a little embarrassed about not taking care of Naruto first, but before they could take him to a bed Sasuke had to add his two cents.

"I say the loser got what he deserved, it's about time he learned what it's like in the shinobi world." said Sasuke as he stood up from the table.

Before anyone could even blink Haku was behind Sasuke with a senbon pointed at his neck. "You say that again, and I'll make you regret it. Naruto-kun's only in that condition because, he risked his life to rescue me from that shinobi."

Sakura jumped up from her seat and shouted "Leave Sasuke-kun alone! You condemn him for what he said, but you're the one attacking us!" **"Yeah, why don't you just go off, and die BITCH! CHA!"**

Haku just looked over at Sakura; she raised her hand, and started to channel her chakra. This caused the water in the glass that Sakura was still holding to become an ice senbon, thus shattering the glass.

The ice senbon continued to hover just inches for Sakura's neck, when Haku narrowed her eyes and said "Don't test my patience."

When Shizune saw Haku use her chakra she said "Haku-san please be careful, we told you not to overexert yourself."

"Now, now, why don't we all just try, and calm down. None of us want to do anything we'll regret later." said Kakashi as he tried to defuse the situation.

Haku lowered her sendon and went over to Tsunade, who just did a slight huff and then proceeded to take Naruto out of the room. Once she had him safely put to bed, Shizune came in with a cup of tea for her.

"I wonder Shizune, will this become common place, when Konoha finds out that he's alive." said a very concerned Tsunade as she took a sip of tea.

"I hope not Tsunade-sama, I hope not."

(2 days later)

As the sun crept through the window Haku slowly opened her eyes and looked over at the bed that Naruto was sleeping in, only to find the bed empty. Jumping out of her seat Haku starts to franticly search for Naruto. Just then the bathroom door opened to reveal Naruto walking out while he put his coat on.

Naruto looked in Haku's direction got a smile on his face and said "Good Morning Haku-chan."

"You shouldn't be out of bed Naruto-kun, you need your rest." said Haku as she ran over to him.

"I'm fine, I've been resting to long anyway." said Naruto.

"That's for me to decide Naru-chan. In fact, I want you to take it easy for the next week. That means no training or any activity that will cause you to overexert yourself." said Tsunade as she stood in the doorway.

"But Kaasaaaaannnn… I feel fine." whined Naruto.

"No buts Naruto, I want you to take it easy for awhile, and Haku here, has agreed to keep an eye on you, to make sure it happens. If you don't take it easy, then I'll have to take more drastic action." said Tsunade as she cracked her knuckles.

Getting the message Naruto let the matter drop, there was no way he was going to risk finding out what the more drastic measures were. So for the next week Naruto took it easy (much to his annoyance), but at least he was able to help Haku with building Hinata's confidence, they didn't make much progress but at least now Hinata no longer expected people would brake through her guard.

Now we find Naruto putting on his coat as he double checks the room, to make sure he didn't leave anything behind. As he left his room and headed down the hall, he bumped into Hinata.

"Oh, sorry Hinata, I didn't see you there." said Naruto as he helped her up.

"T-That's alright Naruto-kun, (she then noticed that he was carrying his traveling case) S-So, I-I see your getting ready to leave." said Hinata as she lowered her gaze and poking her index fingers together.

"Yeah, Kaasan says now that I'm better, we should be on our way. OH…" said Naruto as he reached into his coat pocket and pulled out a scroll. "This is for you, once you get back to Konoha, I want you to look up a person called Anko, she'll be able to help you. All you have to do is hand her this letter, and tell her I sent it. If she asks any question just tell her that it's all explained in the letter ok."

After handing the scroll to Hinata, Naruto says his goodbye's and then heads off to meet up with Tsunade and Shizune. When he meets up with them just outside the house, Naruto also sees Zabuza and Haku there.

Zabuza saw the look on Naruto's face so he said "We've decided to travel with you, after all I did say I was going to train you in the art of swordsmanship, and I always pay my debts."

Naruto looked over at Haku who just got a smile on her face and she nodded her head. As a smile crossed his face Naruto said "Alright! What are we waiting for? Let's get a move on people!"

Tsunade and Shizune couldn't help but laugh at Naruto's antics as they headed toward the completed bridge. Once they got to the bridge, they were surprised to find the entire town was there to see them off.

Tazuna walked up to them and said "We couldn't just let you leave, without giving you the proper send off."

Inari came up to Naruto and with tears in his eyes he said "Promise me that you'll come, and visit us again alright."

Naruto put his hand on Inari's head and said "You got it kid, that's a promise, and you know me, I never go back on my word." He then leans down and whispers "The sooner your town gets some casinos, the sooner Kaasan will want to come back here."

Inari giggled at the comment as Naruto turned around, and headed out across the bridge with the rest of the group. As Naruto's group is almost out of sight Tsunami said "So, What are you going to name the bridge?"

Bringing his hand up to his chin Tazuna said "Hmmm… I think we should call it 'The Great Naruto Bridge', named after the one, who reminded us of what courage, and heroism truly means."

"That sounds like a great name Dad."

(Unknown Hidden Village)

Akira, Ba-yu, and Shadow stand before the gates leading to their home village. As the gates open two Chunin guards come out.

"Ba-yu-san, Leader-sama has ordered us to escort you, to her office the moment you returned." said on of the guards.

Not even bothering to respond Ba-yu just nodded his head as the two chunin's lead the way. Upon entering her office the three of them see her standing by the window looking out over the village, her red hair shined brightly in the morning sunlight.

The leader turned her head to face the group and said "So, how did your mission go?"

"It was a partial success, we managed to eliminate Gato, but we were unable to talk to Zabuza, and he has now joined up with another group." said Ba-yu as he motions Shadow to put the scroll with Gato's head on the desk.

"I see." she said as she sat down at her desk and summoned a messenger who picked up the scroll, and headed of the deliver it to their client.

"There's something else we need to report Kushina-sama. I'm not sure how to tell you this, but we discovered that your son, Naruto Uzumaki, survived that assault after all, and he's also with the group that Zabuza joined up with." said Ba-yu as he rubbed the back of his head.

Kushina looked up from her paperwork with wide eyes and said "W-What did you say?"

Akira stepped forward this time and said "He said…, that we discovered Naruto-sama is alive and well, apparently Tsunade-sama saved him, and then she took him with her on her travels."

"So, even Tsunade-sama was in on this scheme." said Kushina as she lowered her head.

"That doesn't seem to be the case Sensei, in fact, it appears that there is some bad blood between Tsunade-sama, and Konoha." interrupted Shadow.

"What do you mean?" said Kushina as she looked at Shadow with a curious expression.

Shadow then goes and recounts his observations on the interactions between Tsunade, and her group with the Konoha shinobi. Then he told her about the encounter that Ba-yu, and Akira had with Tsunade and Shizune.

Let's just say that Kushina wasn't too happy with what she heard. In fact she jumped from her seat and slammed Ba-yu against the walk while she yelled "What the hell were you thinking! If you messed up my chance with my son…"

Kushina left it at that so that their imaginations would run wild. After a few minutes of silence she said "Well, now that these events have come to my attention, I have new assignment for you three. Ba-yu, Akira, you two will become Jonin Sensei's, and train your teams for the Chunin Exams that are coming up."

Akira just looked at her sensei as if she had lost her mind "But Sensei, the Chunin Exam's are being held in Konoha this time round."

"I know Akira, I think it's time Sarutobi and myself, had a little chat." said Kushina as she sat back down in her chair and then leaned back while she brought her hands together.

"My I ask what my task is Sensei?" said Shadow as he stepped forward.

"You will be accompanying me as I go and look for my son." said Kushina as she swiveled her chair to face the window.

Kushina turned back to face her students and said "You all have your assignments, Akira, Ba-yu, you'll find your students at the Academy, do your best, to get them ready. Shadow, meet me at the gate in one hour, we'll start our search then. Now get going!"

"Yes Sensei." said the three in unison as they bowed and then left the office. As soon as they left Kushina looked at a picture on her desk that showed a very pregnant Kushina being held by her husband. A single tear ran down her face as she thought _'He's alive! Our son's alive! And this time Minato, I won't fail him, that's a promise.'_

(Kumo Raikage's office)

Yugito enters the Raikage's office and bows before the Raikage before she said "My apologies sir, for returning before my mission is completed, but I have urgent news to report."

The Raikage remained quite and let her continue "When I tracked down Zabuza in wave, I encountered another Jinchuuriki, but he claims to have no loyalties to any village. More importantly sir, is that Nibi believes that the Bijuu sealed inside this person, is none other than Kyuubi no Youko."

Now this really caught the attention of the Raikage, if they could get this Jinchuuriki to join them, then they would be almost unbeatable. So the order was issued "Then you know what you must do Yugito, from this moment on you have a new mission, I want you to convince this Jinchuuriki, top join forces with us, and if you can get his companions as well, then that will be even better."

"But Sir! What about Zabuza!" yelled Yugito.

Now the Raikage started to get irritated "Look Yugito, you are going to have to let go of the past, if he is a companion of this Jinchuuriki, then I don't want anything to happen that might jeopardize our possible alliance, got that, now begin your mission."

"Yes Sir." said Yugito as she bowed and left the office.

(In a Dark Chamber deep within Oto)

Orochimaru sat in his chair covered in shadow as he said "Have you found the one I seek?"

"Yes sir, it appears that she has just left wave, and is on her way to Tanzaku Town." said Kabuto.

"Excellent, when Tsunade joins our side, Konoha won't stand a chance." said a chuckling Orochimaru.

"Of course Orochimaru-sama, but are you sure that she'll join you?" questioned Kabuto.

Orochimaru just got a smirk on his face as he said "Of course she will. I may not know the full story, but I do know that her bitterness towards Konoha, has only increased over the years, so there is no way she'll refuse."

Orochimaru then leaned forward and rested his chin on his hands he said "Very soon Konoha will burn, and my dream will become reality, Ku, Ku, Ku."

Next Chapter: Orochimaru's offer… and Tsunade's decision

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Author's note2: Well now everyone knows that Naruto's mother is very much alive, but what will she do about Konoha? That information will be revealed in later chapters. Also I hope you like how I'm going to handle Naruto's reaction when he finds out that his mother is still alive. Almost forgot, Anko's major reason for staying with Naruto will be revealed in the next chapter so I hope everyone will tune in next time.


	11. Orochimaru's offer & Tsunade's decision

-1

"Speech"

'_Thoughts'_

**Demon/Summon/inner Sakura speech**

_**Demon/Summon thoughts**_

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or any of the characters created by Kishimoto, but all OC's are my own creation.

battousai222: Unfortunately it won't be in this Chapter, but in chapter 13 Naruto will learn who his parents are.

TheDon1023: Sorry about that, I meant that Sarutobi will try to keep the fact that Sasuke tried to kill Naruto secret from Anko, but she will find out. Zabuza will end up telling them a little of his past with Yugito in this chapter, it won't be much, but he will tell them what he thinks is the reason for Yugito's assault.

Raptor2001: I've already got a design for the Kodachi, but I'll keep your request in mind for the other sword that Naruto gets later.

Rooster455: Yes, Kushina is head of her own village.

xXChristineXx: Team 7's third member will be revealed at the start of the Chunin Exams. Hinata is still part of team 8 under Kurenai. I'm thinking of calling it Kumorigakure no sato (Hidden Shadow village) is its translation, but I like to say it like this 'The Village Hidden in the Shadows' and if your wondering I plan to have it located in the former Whirlpool country.

The Rogue Stallion: He'll be learning it in this chapter.

dragoon-zerox: Kakashi sent Hinata, as a bodyguard, with Tazuna as he went to go and buy some more sake. Now as for Sarutobi, I won't saw much, but he doesn't know Kushina is alive, Kushina had already escaped before Sarutobi was reappointed, so there are only a few people in Konoha that know she's alive. I'll reveal more later as the story progresses.

Tw33ty JR.: No, Naruto will never forget about Tsunade. In fact she will always be one of the most important people in his life.

silent-moradin-of-the-abyss: Catches the cookie thanks; now as for your question, I honestly didn't think of that, I just thought that he would feel ashamed of how his village treated Naruto. Maybe I can use it later when Naruto returns to Konoha.

Author's Note: Now I know I said Anko's major reason would be revealed in this chapter, but the outline I did for this turned out to be so long that I had to split this chapter in two, the end of this chapter was only meant to be the halfway point, but as you can see it turned out to be very long. So it will defiantly be in the next chapter. I also wanted to say that the Chunin Exams will start by chapter 15 or 16, so you know what that means, Naruto will be returning to Konoha within the next few chapters, and then everyone will get to see what Konoha's reaction will be.

Now on with the story.

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Chapter 11: Orochimaru's offer… and Tsunade's Decision.

(Konoha- Hokage Tower)

Sarutobi was having a good day, his paperwork was all caught up, his grandson hadn't tried to attack him at all today, and he was planning to take an afternoon stroll after the mission briefings. That is it was a good day until Team 7 came in, and Kakashi had asked for a private briefing.

His fears were proven right as he heard Kakashi's mission report. He looked over at Team 7 until his eyes settled on Kakashi he then said "You realize what this means, don't you Kakashi?"

"I do Hokage-sama."

Sarutobi rested his head on his hands as he said "Then I'm leaving all disciplinary action to you, and labeling this Information as an S-Ranked secret, so you are not permitted talk about this with anyone, is that understood?" _'If Anko finds out this, who knows what she'll do? _

"Hai Hokage-sama." came the reply of Team 7.

After dismissing Team 7 Sarutobi leaned back in his chair and stared at the picture of the Yondaime. A sad smile crept on his face as he thought _'At least my student succeeded, where I had failed, and maybe there is still time to make up for past mistakes.'_

He then summoned two Chunin messengers and relayed his orders "I want you two to go, and bring Jiraiya and Anko here at ONCE!"

"Hai Hokage-sama." said the two Chunin as they race off to complete their mission.

(Outside the Tower)

Hinata had just left the tower when she ran into Kurenai who asked "How was your first C-Ranked mission Hinata?"

"A-Actually Kurenai-Sensei, i-it turned out to be an A-A-Ranked mission." said Hinata as she poked her index fingers together.

"What!? How did that happen? Are you alright? Did anyone get hurt?" asked a very concerned Kurenai.

"I-I sorry S-Sensei, but I-I'm not aloud to talk about it, b-but I-I can tell you t-that no one was s-seriously hurt. H-Hokage-sama ordered us to s-secrecy." said a nervous Hinata as she put her hands in her pockets and touched the scroll Naruto had given her.

Hinata pulled the scroll from her pocket and after looking at it for a second she said "K-Kurenai-sensei, d-do you know a p-person by the name of A-Anko?"

Now this completely floored Kurenai, of all the questions she was expecting Hinata to ask that was not one of them. Filing the information about the classified mission for later she answers "Yes Hinata, I know Anko-san, but can I ask how you know her name?"

"S-Someone asked me to give her this scroll. S-So could you p-please take me to her?" asked Hinata.

Kurenai nodded her head and lead Hinata to Anko's location.

(Dango Shop)

Anko had just finished her last dango and had started to wonder how Naruto was doing when she saw Kurenai approach her followed by one of her students.

"What are you doing here Kurenai, and who's the brat?" asked Anko as she flicked her Dango stick to finish the leaf pattern she had made on the wall.

"This is Hinata, and she has something to give you." said Kurenai as she gestured to Hinata.

Anko just turned back toward the counter and said "Well, whatever it is, I don't want it."

"ANKO!" scolded Kurenai as she looked at Hinata's lowered head. _'She's been like this ever since that boy died.'_

"B-But N-N-Naruto-kun…" said Hinata as she looked down at the scroll.

At that one word Anko's head shot up and she looked at Hinata for the first time, that's when she noticed the scroll in her hands and said "What did you say?"

"N-N-Naruto-kun gave me this, h-he told me, t-to d-deliver this to y-you." said a meek Hinata as she tightened her grip on the scroll.

Kurenai started to pay attention to the conversation the moment she saw Anko's head snap up, and when she heard Hinata say that name again she started to wonder. _'Naruto? I know I've heard that name before, but where? Wait! Isn't that the name of…?'_ "Anko?"

Anko looked up at Kurenai with a serious expression and said "Kurenai, promise me you won't tell a soul."

Anko saw Kurenai just nod her head before she turned back to Hinata and took the scroll and began to read it:

Dear Anko-neechan,

I hope you read this letter before the old man talks to you. As you can guess by the fact that Hinata gave you this, Konoha now knows I'm alive, and well. We all knew this would happen eventually, but man, are all the shinobi of that village complete assholes totally obsessed with power? (_'He must be talking about that brat of an Uchiha.'_) I meet this one guy who tried to kill me by throwing a spear in the back, just for being better that him, and he nearly killed my new friend in the process. (Anko gritted her teeth and her grip tightened on the letter, her mind already coming up with ways to make the Uchiha suffer) Now I just have one favor to ask of you Neechan, since I couldn't do anything because he has the protection of Konoha. I was wondering if you could do something about that, the only thing I ask is that you don't kill him, that way he can learn his lesson (make it as painful as possible please). (Anko got a sadistic smile on her face as she thought of all the things she was going to do to Sasuke _'Oh I'm going to enjoy making him pay, Heh, heh, heh…'_ she then continued to read) Anyway I getting off track here, the main reason I wrote this letter is to ask if you would help train Hinata here, it seems her life in Konoha was almost as hard as mine. Please be patient with her for she has absolutely no confidence in herself, so it's going to take some time to build that up. I've already started helping her, but I can't help her when she's in Konoha so I'm asking you this one favor, please train her, if nothing else it will really piss off the ones responsible for her mental state.

Naruto

After she read the letter Anko sat there for a moment and thought about what she should do. If it had been anyone else asking her this she would have immediately said no, but this was her otouto asking so she decided to do it on a trail basis.

"Fine, I'll help you kid, but if I feel you're not making any progress, I gone, got that" said Anko as she looked at Hinata.

Kurenai looked on in shock as she sees Hinata nod her head, never in a million years did she expect to see Anko agree to train anyone especially after what happened to Naruto.

Before Kurenai could ask any questions a Chunin messenger arrived and approached Anko.

"Excuse me Anko-san, but Hokage-sama summons you to a meeting, he wants you there ASAP." said the Chunin as he nervously awaited her reply.

"Fine" was all Anko said before she headed to the tower.

(Hokage's Office)

Sarutobi sat in his chair awaiting the arrival of Jiraiya and Anko. He was also contemplating this turn of events. _'What am I going to do now? By law I have to inform the council, but what will that mean for Naruto?'_

Sarutobi was brought out of his thoughts when a voice said "What do you want Sensei? You interrupted my research, and it was just getting good to."

"I have more important matters to discuss with you, than your interrupted research. Like for starters, why you failed to report the fact, that Naruto Uzumaki was alive and well, and is in Tsunade's care." said Sarutobi as he put his pipe on his desk.

Jiraiya got a serious expression on his face as he said "I did that for the boy's protection. You know as well as I do, that most of the villagers want him dead. What would you have me do, tell everyone that he survived, so they could hunt him, and finished what they started all those years ago?"

"That's not what I meant Jiraiya, and you know it. You could have at least told me about it. That way…"said Sarutobi before he was interrupted by a knock on the door "Enter."

As Anko enter the room she saw Jiraiya standing in front of the Hokage's desk, that's when she knew for curtain what this was about, so she said "You wanted to see me Hokage-sama?"

Sarutobi leaned back in his chair as he said "Yes Anko, it's come to my attention, that you have withheld information about a certain boy's survival."

"I see." was all Anko said as her face remained neutral and she waited for Sarutobi to continue.

"Don't worry Anko, I haven't told the council yet, and I don't plan to until I have a talk with Tsunade. So, I've decided to send both of you to go find her, and escort her back here. This will be an S-Ranked mission, and I'm not taking no for an answer, now Anko, I trust you know where they are." said Sarutobi with a serious expression.

"Maybe."

"Anko, I have no time for games, it's only a matter of time before the council finds out on its own, and I would like to talk to Tsunade before that." said Sarutobi as he picked up his pipe and lit it.

"Fine." said Anko as she bowed and then left the room with Jiraiya not far behind, but the moment the door closed behind her, Jiraiya stopped in his tracks and turned to face Sarutobi.

"Sensei I have to know, is Naruto Ar…Minato's son?" said Jiraiya as he watched Sarutobi for any indication of the truth.

When Sarutobi just lowered his hat and remained quite Jiraiya had his answer.

He shook his head and said "I thought as much, but does she know about him?"

"No, she still thinks he's dead." said Sarutobi as he took a puff from his pipe.

"Why?" was all Jiraiya that could say.

Sarutobi rubbed the bridge of his nose before he said "The council had already declared him dead before I was reappointed, and at the time she was too young to be looking after a newborn baby anyway. So, I went along with it, and gave him his mother's clan name, to honor her memory."

Jiraiya simply crossed his arms and said "You do realize, that she is going to be really pissed when she finds out right? It wouldn't surprise me in the least, if she decided to leave the village."

"Which is why I'm ordering you, not to tell either of them about this, until I think they're ready, understand. It's become an SS-ranked secret of the village Jiraiya." said a very serious Sarutobi.

"Fine, I'll keep your secret for now, but they deserve to know." said Jiraiya in a disgusted voice as he walked out of the office.

Sarutobi leaned back in his chair and thought _'I'm getting to old for this.'_

(Tanzuku Town)

Naruto and the others have just arrived in town, when Tsunade decided that her first stop would be one of the local casinos. As Naruto watched her walk off, followed shortly by Shizune, he let a sigh and said "I can't just let her go off like that, there's no telling how much money she's going to lose, and I really wanted to go, and pick up the sword I ordered the last time I was here too."

"I'll get it for you kid, I'm not really fond of casinos anyway." said Zabuza while Haku was wondering if Tsunade was really as bad as Naruto said.

"Thanks Zabuza-sensei, here, in this scroll is the money for the sword, as well as all the proof you'll need to get the sword." said Naruto as he hands Zabuza the scroll.

As Zabuza took the scroll he looked at it for a second before he said "Alright, after I get this sword of yours, I'll be waiting for you guys at that pub we saw a few blocks back."

When Zabuza was out of sight Naruto turned to Haku and said "Well, shall we go Haku-chan?"

Naruto and Haku finally caught up with Tsunade and Shizune, Tsunade was already in the middle of a losing streak and after watching her lose some more Haku asked "I thought you were kidding when you said, there's no telling how much she'll lose."

"Well, in all the years Kaasan's been doing this, I don't think I've seen her win once. Her luck has been so bad, that everyone started to call her 'The Legendary Sucker'." said Naruto as he turned to face Haku.

The moment he finished that statement the sounds of bells going off could be heard indicating someone has won the jackpot. When Naruto turned back he received a shock for it was Tsunade herself that won the Jackpot with three '7's' this caused him to yell out "What the hell!?"

Tsunade continued to hit the jackpot several more time causing Naruto to stare at her wide eyed and slack jawed. He then recovered from his shock pointed directly at Tsunade and said "Ok! Who are you, and what have you done with my Kaasan!?" This outburst caused Haku and Shizune to just shake their heads as Tsunade turned to face him.

"Knock it off Naru-chan." said Tsunade as she went back to playing the slots, but when she hit another jackpot she thought _'Naru-chan's right, I never get three 7's, let alone get them this many times in a row. I've got a bad felling about this.'_

After Tsunade and the others left the casino, they started to make their way up the street to meet up with Zabuza when Tsunade suddenly stopped and said "Once we meet up with Zabuza, I want to leave this town as soon as possible."

This caused the rest of the group to stop dead in their track as Naruto turned to look at Tsunade before he said "You can't be serious Kaasan, we just got here, and you already want to leave? What's going on?"

Before Tsunade could even answer the building in front of them exploded as a giant snake came barreling through. As the smoke cleared two figures could be seen standing in the area of the destroyed building.

Shizune's eyes widen as she recognizes one of the figures and started to say "That's…"

"Orochimaru" said Tsunade as she lowered her head and glared at him.

"Ku, Ku, Ku, I've finally found you Tsunade." said Orochimaru as he tilts his head back and to the left but never takes his eyes off of Tsunade.

"And what business could you possible have with me?" asked Tsunade as she moved to the front of the group so that she was between Naruto and Orochimaru.

Orochimaru got a smile on his face as he said "Nothing much really, I've just come to see if you'll be willing to help me."

"Help…you? And what would you need my help with?" asked Tsunade.

"Oh, it's just a little project I've been working on for awhile now."

Tsunade started to get a little irritated and tapped her foot while she said "And that would be?"

"Why, the utter destruction of Konoha of course." said Orochimaru as his smile got bigger and his snake like tongue ran across his lips.

At hearing this Tsunade's head shot up as her eyes widen and then she said "What!?"

"I said, I plan to burn Konoha to the ground, and wipe it from existence." said Orochimaru in a menacing voice.

"And what makes you think, I'll help you with that?" said Tsunade as she raised her right eyebrow.

"Tsunade, Tsunade, Tsunade, do you take me for a fool? I know all about your bitterness towards Konoha, I even know that it has increased over the years, and that you're just waiting for your chance to strike." said Orochimaru as he stared at Tsunade as if he was looking into her soul.

Seeing Orochimaru stare at Tsunade like that really pissed off Naruto and he vocalized it by saying "Hey freak! If you glare at my Kaasan like that again, then I won't be responsible for the consequences."

'_What an annoying brat.'_ thought Orochimaru as he looked at the boy who had gained his attention before he got a sneer on his face as he said "Look here you little brat, don't butt into an adult conversation, or you'll find out that you've bitten off more than you can chew. I'll personally see to that. Ku, Ku, Ku."

"Orochimaru, if you talk to him like that again…" said Tsunade in a sickeningly sweet voice as she slammed her left fist into the building beside her. As the wall crumbled Tsunade got a pissed off look on her face as she said in a menacing voice "AND I'LL KILL YOU!"

"Now, now Tsunade-sama, I'm sure Orochimaru-sama meant no offense, and as for his offer you don't have to decide now, but we'll be back by the end of the week, and we'll expect your answer by then." said Kabuto as he gave a slight bow.

"Come Kabuto, lets get going." said Orochimaru as he turned to leave, but he stopped halfway into the turned tilting his head back he make eye contact with Tsunade before he said "Oh, and Tsunade, I plan to reward you for your help, but I'll keep that to myself until you decide, so I expect a favorable reply."

Later that night Naruto and the others meet up with Zabuza at the local pub to discuss the situation they are in.

"I really don't see what all the discussion is about, we either take him up on his offer, or we don't, it's as simple as that." said Zabuza as he took another swig from his sake bottle.

"It's not that simple Zabuza-san, you don't know him like we do. Whatever he's planning for Konoha, it's a safe bet, that it's going to involve the deaths, of a lot of innocent people." said Shizune.

"Innocents and Konoha, those two words should not be used in the same sentence." said Tsunade as she took another sip of sake.

"You can't mean that Tsunade-sama, at the very least, the children are innocent." said Shizune in a pleading voice.

"You may be right Shizune-neechan, but Kaasan is right as well, there aren't many innocents left in Konoha, and if the group we encountered is any indication, at least two-thirds of them can't be trusted. What do you think Haku-chan?" said Naruto as he to took a sip of the tea Shizune got for him.

Haku just sat there for a moment before she decided to speak "I've never encountered this man before, but I have heard stories, and they weren't pleasant ones either, they involved torture, and all sorts of strange experiments being conducted on people. The person that told me this also said 'For those people who are found unworthy of being part of sound, they simple disappear, and are never heard from again.'"

Tsunade just shook her head after hearing this _'Even after all these years, he hasn't changed at all.'_ "And we can't forget what he did to Anko-san."

Naruto's head shot up when he heard this, he turned to look at Tsunade before saying "What did that freak do to Anko-neechan?"

"He…" Tsunade never got to finish her sentence as Jiraiya came diving through the door as a kunai went flying over his head and imbedded itself in the wall.

"I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I'm sorry!" screamed Jiraiya as Anko came storming through the doors with another kunai in her left hand.

Anko just glared at the man cowering on the floor before she said "YOU FRIEKEN PERVERT! IF YOU EVER TRY ANYTHING LIKE THAT AGAIN, I'LL CASTRATE YOUR ASS, YOU GOT THAT! Honestly! I don't know why my father, held you in such high regards!"

"Anko-neechan?" said Naruto as he looked on at the scene with complete amazement.

When Anko heard Naruto's voice she completely forgot about Jiraiya, she got a smile on her as she turned her head toward where she heard Naruto. She then waved her hand at them while she said "Hey Gaki! It's been awhile hasn't it?"

"First it's Orochimaru, and now Jiraiya shows up, what else is going to happen before I leave this damn town?" said an annoyed Tsunade as she took another swig from her sake bottle.

Before anyone could say anything else Jiraiya was back on his feet and walking toward Tsunade, he then got a serious look on his face and said "Tsunade, we have to talk."

A few minutes and several introductions later they finally got to the reason Jiraiya and Anko were there.

He just looked Tsunade in the eyes and said "Look Tsunade, I'll get straight to the point. Sarutobi-sensei, wants you to come back to Konoha, so he can have a face to face conversation with you, before he informs the council of Naruto's survival."

Tsunade just scoffed at the idea "Sarutobi-sensei must be getting senile at his old age, did he honestly think I would agree, to take Naruto back to that hellhole?"

"I'm not to sure, but I can hazard a guess, he wanted to get the full story from you, before the council started calling for a missing nin status for either Shizune, Naruto, or yourself." said Jiraiya as he poured himself a drink.

'_Great, just great, as if we don't have enough problems to deal with, now Konoha wants to get itself involved.' _thought Tsunade as she just stared into her drink.

Jiraiya let out a sigh and continued "You know you're going to have to face this eventually, so why not deal with it before it gets out of hand Tsunade."

"Shut up Jiraiya! I know what I have to do." said Tsunade as she gave him a harsh look.

The rest of the evening went by in silence until Jiraiya said "It's starting to get late, so I better go and get us our rooms, alright Anko."

"They better be separate, or you won't live to see tomorrow." said Anko as she chewed on a Dango stick and glared at him.

Jiraiya quickly made his exit after that and the moment he was out of sight Tsunade spoke "Anko-san, there's something I need to tell you. Orochimaru approached us earlier today, he wants us to join him in destroying Konoha."

"WHAT!? You didn't except did you?" yelled Anko as the dango stick dropped to the ground forgotten.

"We haven't given him an answer yet, but he expects one by the end of the week. And before you even ask, we know all the dangers that come with teaming up with him, and I don't think we'll be joining up with him, but…( Tsunade just shook her head before continuing) Never mind, anyway, I think Naru-chan over there, will want to personally make the man suffer, after he finds out what he did to you." said Tsunade as she pointed over at Naruto.

That's when she notices the position that the sleeping forms of Naruto and Haku were in, and a smile crossed her face, for Naruto was leaning back against the wall with Haku leaned up against him, her head resting on his shoulder. "Well, I guess it is getting pretty late after all, and we should all turn in for the night."

Anko just looks at the two of them before she said "Are you sure she's good enough for him?"

Repressing a laugh Tsunade answers "Well… she almost died to protect him, so I'd say she really cares about him."

'_So, this is the new friend he wrote to me about.'_ thought Anko as Tsunade went over to them and gently nudged Naruto.

"Hey, it time to get up sleepyhead, were heading to the hotel now." said Tsunade in a soft voice as she lightly shook his shoulder.

Naruto slowly opened his eyes let out a yawn and said "W-What time is it?"

"It's about 2 A.M. gaki, now I know you like the position you're in but we really need to get going." said Anko as she let a smile cross her face as she teased Naruto.

"What are you…" Naruto never finished his sentence as he felt something on his left shoulder, when he turned his head where he saw Haku using his shoulder as a pillow. He rubbed the back of his head as a slight blush crossed his face as he said "Uh, how did this happen?"

Naruto then gently nudged Haku as he said "Come on Haku-chan, it's time to get up."

"MMMM… Just let me rest for a few more minutes Zabuza-sama."

"Uh Haku-chan, I'm not Zabuza-sensei."

Haku's eye shot open when she heard that and her head quickly shot up. After she realized what had happened her face turned as red as a tomato and then she said "I-I'm sorry, Naruto-kun I don't know how that happened."

At this point both Tsunade or Anko broke out laughing, when Tsunade was able to calm down she said "Alright you two, enough goofing around, it's getting late, and I'm beat, so lets turn in for the night."

Both Naruto and Haku remained silent as they followed everyone else back to the hotel.

(The Following Morning)

Naruto yawned as he followed Zabuza to a quit spot just outside of town. When they finally reach it Zabuza pulled out a scroll and tossed it to Naruto. "With everything that happened yesterday, I didn't get a chance to give you this."

When Naruto opened the scroll his new sword came out. It had a golden fox head at the base, with a navy blue wrapping around the handle, and with nine golden tails twisting around the handle as well going from the fox head all the way up to the hilt. The sheath was a midnight black with some gold trim, and when he pulled it out of the sheath he looked at the blade shine red in the morning sun, for the blade itself was a blood red color with the kanji for claw etched into its base.

As Naruto started to go through some of the moves that Zabuza showed him he said "Man, that blacksmith did a really good job on this Kodachi, it's perfectly balanced and unbelievable light."

"Not bad kid, I see your form has improved, so lets see how you handle this." said Zabuza as he drew his sword and charged Naruto.

Naruto was able to block all the strikes that Zabuza through at him only to have Zabuza say "Your guard has gotten better, but you're still leaving your left side exposed." Zabuza then did a round house kick to Naruto's left side knocking him to the ground.

At the other end of the field Tsunade watched Naruto's training as she thought about Jiraiya's words as well as Orochimaru's offer. _'Naruto's skills keep growing by the day, perhaps it is time that we confront Konoha, but the question is how? Do we join forces with Orochimaru, and fight against Konoha, or should I go with Jiraiya and talk to Sarutobi-sensei? I know I can't trust Orochimaru, so the answer seems obvious, but, how do I know Sarutobi-sensei can be trusted?'_

"You're wondering if the old man can be trusted, aren't you?" said Jiraiya as he interrupted Tsunade's train of thought.

"And if I am?"

"How about if I give you my word, that no matter what happens, I'll stick with you, even if it means going against Konoha." said Jiraiya as he put his left hand on her shoulder and gave her a thumbs up with his right.

Tsunade turned to face Jiraiya and said "Don't ever give me a reason to doubt you Jiraiya."

Naruto was on one knee with Zabuza standing over him. Zabuza sticks his sword in the ground and said "I think that's enough sword practice for today."

As Zabuza turned to leave Naruto asked "Zabuza-sensei, I've been meaning to ask you this, so, I'll just come out and say it. What is your relationship with that female shinobi that we encountered a few weeks ago?"

Zabuza just let out a sigh and said "I guess you deserve that much, so, I'll tell you what I know. Her name is Yugito, and as for the reason she's after me, I really can't say. All I know is that when I encountered her a few years ago, she attack without warning, as a good shinobi should, swearing that she would make me pay for what I did to her, but if I would hazard a guess, I'd say I probably killed someone important to her. Anyway I barely managed to escape, when she used her Bijuu's power, and I haven't had any more encounters with her until she showed up in Wave."

Just then Jiraiya walked toward them and said "Mind if I borrow him for awhile Zabuza?"

Zabuza just shrugged his shoulders and said "Do whatever you want, were done anyway." He then walks off back to town.

"What do you want ero-sennin?" said Naruto as he puts his sword back in its sheath.

"Show some respect brat! I'm one of the three sannin after all remember, I'm the great Jiraiya!"

"Oh knock it off ero-sennin, Anko-neechan told me all about you, and your perverted ways." said Naruto as he pointed at Jiraiya.

"I tell you, I get no respect these day's, and I came all the way out here, just so I could teach you a new jutsu too, but first, I want you to sign this." said Jiraiya as he pulled out the Toad contract.

"A Summoning Contract? I thought you could only have one summon?" asked a curious Naruto.

"Normally that's true, but luck is on your side, for Tsunade and myself, both talked it over with the boss summons, and they've agreed to give you the ability, to use both of them, all you have to do is concentrate on which one you want to use , and then channel your chakra like you normally do." said Jiraiya as he unraveled the scroll.

Naruto was about to sign when he noticed the last name on the scroll. _'The Yondaime huh, I've always wondered if he knew how the village would treat me? Did he know, that he was condemning me to a life of suffering and hatred? If I hadn't met Kaasan, and the others…' _Naruto shook his head to get rid of those dark thoughts and then procided to sign the contract.

"Alright, now that that's out of the way, catch." said Jiraiya as he throws a water balloon at Naruto.

Naruto caught the water balloon, looked up at Jiraya and said "A water balloon?"

"Just watch." said Jiraiya as he shows Naruto the balloon in his hand, and focuses his chakra. Naruto watched on as he sees the balloon start to bubble and then it explode.

Naruto looked at the balloon in his hand before saying "I'm assuming that this the first step, in that new jutsu that you mentioned."

A smile appeared on Jiraiya's face as he said "Not bad, you're smarter than you look gaki, this is only step one, of a three step process, but I won't tell you the other steps until you've mastered this one."

After Naruto heard that he looked down at the balloon, and started to analyze what Jiraiya had just shown him. _'Ok, lets see here, it obvious that you have to rotate the water, but if you just do that, it will just spread out, so, what am I missing?'_

He started to channel his chakra and mess around with rotating the water one direction and then which it in the other direction with the same results. _'I didn't think that would work, but what am I missing? Wait… his balloon bubbled up before it exploded which means.' _Naruto then started to channel his chakra into the balloon again, this time however the balloon started to bubble and then it exploded. Pleased with his accomplishment Naruto smiled and said "That was easier than I thought."

Jiraiya just stood there in total shock, he just couldn't believe what he had just seen. _'Remarkable, he managed to figure out the first step in less than an hour, makes me wonder what else he's capable of.' _

"Impressive, now lets see how you do with the second step, so watch closely." said Jiraiya as he lifted up his hand to reveal a rubber ball, a few seconds later it exploded.

Naruto caught the ball that Jiraiya threw at him, he looked down at the ball before he said "So, you want me to explode this ball, like I did the balloon?"

When he saw Jiraiya nod his head Naruto channeled his chakra and tried to do the same thing he did to the balloon only to have nothing happen. _'Damn, this is a lot harder than the balloon.'_

"I see you've noticed, the first step is about rotation, this step is about power. Since there's no water inside, it's harder for you to visualize your chakra rotating, isn't it? Well good luck, I'm off to do some research, I'll check on you later." said Jiraiya as he waved his hand and then headed back toward the city.

When he reached the outer edge of the clearing, he saw Tsunade still standing there with a smug look on her face, she then said "Naru-chan did better than you thought didn't he?"

Jiraiya just shook his head before he looked directly at Tsunade and said "Heh, better than I thought, he just took all my expectations, and throw them out the window. It took me almost three weeks to figure out the first step, and he goes and does it in less than an hour! I'm curious to see how long it's going to take him, to finish this step."

"Take the time you think it'll take him, and cut it in half, that's how long it will actually take him." said Tsunade as she continued to watch Naruto work on step two.

"That's not possible Tsunade, no one can learn jutsu that quickly, unless you have the Sharingan." said Jiraiya with a bit of disgust in his voice (when he mentioned the Sharingan) as he glanced back at Naruto.

Just then they heard Naruto yell "Damn it! I'm still not generating enough power!"

They both look at the ball only to see a small hole in it and that the ball had deflated. Jiraiya whistles as he says "Damn! He's already progressed that far, if he keeps that up, he'll have completed the second step by tomorrow, but he should start to feel the strain on his chakra system soon."

"I wouldn't bet on that if I were you, Naru-chan is able to take the Kyuubi's chakra channel it into his hands, and use it for a jutsu with unprecedented healing ablities. Besides he has the potential to surpass the Yondaime Hokage." said Tsunade with a great deal of pride in her voice.

"We'll see Tsunade, we'll see."

(Later that night)

Tsunade gathered Shizune, Naruto, Haku, Anko, and Zabuza together to tell them of her final decision, regarding Orochimaru's offer. She looked around the table and with all eyes focused on her she said "As you all night have guess, I've finally come to a decision regarding Orochimaru. I won't be joining with a greater evil, just to get revenge on Konoha, and besides how will Konoha ever realize their mistake, if their all dead? So, in four days we'll have to be ready, because I don't think he'll take no for an answer."

Anko felt a huge relief was over her when she heard that, for she was afraid of what Orochimaru would do with Naruto once he found out about the Kyuubi. But before she could say anything a voice interrupted their meeting.

"I'm glad to see you made the right choice."

Tsunade snapped her head around as a figure came out of the shadows. When the figures face came into view she said "Jiraiya!? What are you doing here? I figured that you would be off doing you _research_."

Jiraiya put his hands over his heart in a mocking jester and said "I'm hurt Tsunade, here you are deciding whether or not to become Orochimaru's allies, and you think I would be off doing research?"

"How did you…?"

Rubbing the bottom of his nose Jiraiya got a smile on his face as he said "I have my sources, but enough about that, you know what Orochimaru will do when you tell him right?"

"I know, we were just about to plan a strategy." said Tsunade as she turned back around to face the group. "Now were was I, oh yes the plan, Shizune, Zabuza, Jiraiya, and myself will go to the meeting place and set up an ambush for Orochimaru. Anko, Naru-chan, and Haku, I want you three to stay here."

"WHAT!?" screamed both Naruto and Anko.

"Now listen up you two, I have my reasons. First Naru-chan, as strong as you are, you're no match for Orochimaru, he's in a completely different league, and as for you Anko, if he activates that seal he placed on you, you'd become a liability, and you know Orochimaru would take advantage of it." said Tsunade as she gave both of them a look that told them that the discussion was over. After that little discussion was over they spent the rest of the evening talking about how they were going to attack.

(Early the next morning)

Naruto was up early working on the second step of his new jutsu. After yet another failed attempt as busting the ball, Naruto was starting to get a little frustrated._ 'Damn, I didn't think this was going to be this hard.'_

"**Calm down kit, you're letting your frustration get to you, just put your focus on one point and try it again."**

He closed his eyes and took a few deep breaths. _'Ok, lets do this.' _Naruto opened his eyes and started to gather his chakra into the palm of his hand.

"YYYYYYAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!!!!!" yelled Naruto as the ball exploded with such force that it sent him flying backwards. Naruto hit the ground and skidded to a halt at the feet of Jiraiya who was about fifteen feet away.

Jiraiya just stood there for a moment before he started to smile. _'Impressive, Tsunade was right, he was able to raise his chakra high enough to not only bust the ball but it threw him back a good fifteen feet, this kid's got a lot of potential.'_

As Naruto got to his feet he noticed that Jiraiya was standing right next to him. "Hey, did you see that ero-sennin, I'm ready for the final step now."

"Indeed you are kid, now watch closely, the first step was about rotation, and the second step was about power. And now this is the third state." said Jiraiya as he raises his right hand and a blue ball of chakra appeared he then slams the orb into a nearby tree causing a massive hole to form. "You see, in the third step you put out everything you've learned up till know, pull it out at full force, and then contain it."

Naruto looked on in amazement _'Wow, and that was with him not putting much effort into it, this jutsu has the potential to be extremely destructive, especially if you combine it with the wind element.'_

Just as Naruto started to do the third step, Tsunade walked into the clearing and watched with fascination wondering if he would be able to do it on his first try. Unfortunately the chakra burst out of its confines and a sudden burst of wind could be felt.

Jiraiya just shook his head and said "No, no, you're holding back. You have to contain that power while you keep it rotating it at full force."

'_So, it's just about controlling the chakra in the spiral. With the amount of control I have, I should be able to nail this jutsu in a couple of days.' _"If that's all there is to it, than I should have it nailed in a couple of days." said Naruto with an air of confidence.

Jiraiya snickered as he said "Yeah right kid, this jutsu was created by the Yondaime himself, and it took him three years to create, and master. When he taught it to me it took me four months, there's no way you'll be able to completely master it in just a couple of more days."

"Want to bet." said Naruto as a smirk appeared on his face.

"Fine, the bet will be if you can master the Rasenganby the time Orochimaru arrives. If I win I want you to swear, that you will come back to Konoha, and if you win, I'll pay off all of Tsunade's debts. So what do you say." said Jiraiya with an equally confident smirk.

Naruto thought about it for a moment and the said "I hope you've got deep pockets, otherwise, you're going to end up in the poor house."

"Hah, not likely kid, but what about you Tsunade you want to join in on this little bet?" asked Jiraiya as he turned his head to look in Tsunade's direction.

"No, I learned my lesson the last time I made a bet with Naruto, and there is nothing for me to gain, that I won't already get by the end of this bet." said Tsunade as she walked up to them.

Jiraiya shook his head and he started to laugh "Too bad kid, looks like Tsunade's throwing in her lot with you, and with her bad luck, you might as well start packing for the trip to Konoha."

Naruto smile faded as he got a serious look on his face and said "Oh yeah, well I just have one thing to say to that. I"LL SHOW YOU ERO-SENNIN! I've never lost a bet, and I don't plan to start know."

(With Kushina)

As Kushina and Shadow ran through a forest, Shadow turned to look at Kushina before he said "Please Sensei, can we stop for a short break, we've been running none stop for the past three days."

At first Kushina refused but when she looked back at Shadow and saw the look of utter exhaustion on his face she changed her mind, and they stopped in a nearby clearing.

After a few minutes of rest Shadow looked over at Kushina and asked "Sensei I'm curious, what will you do after you meet up with Naruto?"

"Well first, I plan on getting to know my son, and then I'll decide on what to do about Konoha." said Kushina as she stared off in the direction they were headed.

Shadow looked reflective for a moment before saying "You know, finding out that Naruto-sama is still alive, makes me wonder what other lies they told you before you were forced out."

Kushina's eyes widened as he said that _'He's right, if they lied to me about Naruto, then… Minato-kun, could your daughter still be alive!?' _"Get up Shadow, we've rested long enough. We have to get to them before Konoha finds out he's still alive, and sends someone to finish the job they started long ago."

As the two sped through the forest Kushina thoughts dwelled on Naruto and the circumstances that resulted in her fleeing Konoha. _'Just wait Naruto, we'll be together soon, and then we'll find out what those council bastards are up too."_

(Orochimaru's Hideout)

Orochimaru sat in a chair as Kabuto entered the room. Once the door was closed Kabuto asked "Orochimaru-sama are you sure that Tsunade will join your cause?"

"Not to worry, I've come up with a plan that will guarantee her joining our cause. See as how Tsunade seems so attached to that brat, So, I want you dress in you Konoha outfit, track down that brat that was with her, when you do find him, kill him. Then make sure that she finds out that Konoha was responsible for his death. Since she seems to be so attached to the boy, theirs no way she'll refuse us then. Ku, Ku, Ku, and with her on our side Sarutobi-sensei won't stand a chance. I can't wait to see the look on his face, when he sees that Tsunade has joined me in Konoha's destruction, Ku, Ku, Ku."

Next Chapter: Orochimaru's scheme: Kabuto strikes!

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Authors note2: Well I hope you liked this chapter, and will come back for the next one. On another note I was wondering did Kabuto ever have a curse seal? I don't remember them ever mentioning this and I can't find any info on it. I don't think he did but I'm not to sure so any help would be great.


	12. Orochimaru’s scheme: Kabuto Strikes!

"Speech"

'_Thoughts'_

**Demon/Summon/inner Sakura speech**

_**Demon/Summon thoughts**_

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or any of the characters created by Kishimoto, but all OC's are my own creation.

Narutomaniac: Naruto will be using Kage Bunshins to train with the third step, for he has no desire to live in Konoha, he just didn't tell Jiraiya this because he didn't want him to back out of the bet. Now as for the Kodachi, Naruto will be able to use Wind chakra with it; because it will make some of the battles I have planned later a bit more interesting.

Himuradono: Sorry, but I can't give any information out about stuff like that, because it would give away a little too much of what's going to happen. But I can tell you this Naruto will not become a Konoha shinobi, he may be joining another village but it defiantly won't be Konoha.

NamidaNoNozomi: Out of all the questions you asked the one I can answer is that Kushina is leader of her own village.

crazyfoxdemon: I guess my computers safe now because I will say this Sakura is not Naruto's sister.

Echizen Ryoma-san: You're right about that but Jiraiya was afraid that they would try anyway. Tsunade doesn't know about Kushina, if fact the Sandaime doesn't even know that she is still alive, he only knows that she was his mother

Authors note: I'm really sorry it took me so long to update, but with the last holiday and getting ready for the next one plus completely reworking the fight in this chapter and the ending I really didn't have much time to type this out. Now I want to thank everyone for their input on whether or not Kabuto had a curse seal, as well as all the ideas on Anko's revenge. I'd also like to say that I'm happy that everyone seems to like the turn of evens so far and I hope you like some of the other things I have planned as well.

Anyway on with the story

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Chapter 12: Orochimaru's scheme: Kabuto Strikes!

It has been two days since Naruto made the bet with Jiraiya and he has made steady progress with the Rasengan. We now find Anko sitting on top of a boulder in a clearing just outside of town as she munched on some dango as she watched an entire platoon of Naruto's work on the jutsu.

'_The Gaki sure has come a long way in just a few days, dad would be proud of how fast he learned this._(she then let out a deep sigh) _I just wish I could make that kind of progress, but it feels like theirs something holding me back. I just wish I knew what that was.' _thought Anko as one of the Naruto's slammed the Rasengan into a nearby tree.

After Naruto finished the jutsu he looked at the damage it caused to the tree and thought _'Not bad, I'm getting better at controlling the spiraling chakra, I almost had it contained that time, a little more practice and I should have it mastered.'_

Just then Tsunade walked up to the boulder Anko sat on and said "So, how is Naru-chan's training coming along?"

Anko spat out her Dango stick turned to face Tsunade and said "In a word unbelievable, even though he's using Kage Bunshin to help him, he's already nearly mastered it. He also told me, he found a way to use a Bunshin to help him use the Rasengan, but he felt that by doing it that way, it would be tantamount to cheating, so he's working on doing it with just his one hand."

"Is that so?" said Tsunade as she shook her head. "That sounds like him, he never did like using shortcuts to learn anything. In fact, I'm still trying to convince him, that using Kage Bunshin is a valid training method, but he still feels like it cheating."

When Anko heard that she just shook her head and started to laugh before she said "That Gaki, he always has to learn things the hard way. If I could Kage Bunshin to the extent that he can, I wouldn't hesitate to use it in my training."

"You would huh, but then where would the challenge be, if you use Kage Bunshin all the time in training, things would become so easy for you, that it would become boring, and besides, I like a good challenge." said Naruto as he walked up to Tsunade and Anko.

"Alright Naru-chan, we get your point already, but do you think you can master that jutsu, before we get back from our meeting with Orochimaru?" said Tsunade

Naruto just gave one of his trademark grins and said "You bet, but I still don't like the idea of being left behind."

Tsunade just shook her head as she said "Naru-chan we've been over this before, and you know my reasons for having you stay behind."

"I know, but that doesn't mean I have to like it." said Naruto as he crossed his arms over his chest.

At this point Anko just shook her head and started to laugh as she said "The Gaki's got a point, we know what you want us to do, but that doesn't mean we have to like it."

Tsunade let out a deep sigh and said "That's enough you two, I'm sure Shizune and the others have finished their preparations by now, so let's head back to town, I need a drink anyway."

As Tsunade, Naruto, and Anko headed back to town Kabuto came out of hiding. Kabuto adjusted his glasses as he said "I see, so Naruto-kun will be staying behind, when Tsunade goes to meet Orochimaru-sama. I think it's time I put my plan into motion, and by the time I'm done, Tsunade will have no choice, but to believe that Konoha is out to kill her beloved 'Naru-chan', heh, heh, heh."

Kabuto lets a smile cross his face as he disappeared in a puff of smoke as he plans out his up coming attack.

(The Next Day)

Naruto, Anko, and Haku are heading toward the clearing outside of town when suddenly kunai started to rain down on them. After they managed to dodge them a masked shinobi, wearing a Konoha headband, landed in front of them.

"Are you Naruto?" asked the mysterious shinobi as he pointed toward Naruto.

"Who wants to know?" said Naruto as he starts to reach of his Kodachi.

Completely ignoring his comment the masked shinobi turned his attention to Anko and said "Anko, by order of the Sandaime Hokage, you're here by ordered to assist me in the elimination of the person named Naruto."

"Oh really, that's interesting, considering the fact that the old man ordered me to bring him back." said Anko as she jerked her wrists and two kunai came out of her sleeves and into her hands "Who are you?"

The Mysterious shinobi started to laugh as he said "Wouldn't you like to know."

The moment that he finished saying that a voice yelled out "Hyouton Sensatsu Suishou!" (1,000 needles of death) as ice needles came flying at the shinobi. As the shinobi dodged the assault Haku landed next to Naruto.

Haku looked her enemy straight in the eyes and said "If you want to kill Naruto-kun, than you'll have to go through me first."

The Masked Shinobi looked at his three opponents and started to get a little worried. _'This will be tough, I know what Anko is capable of, but Naruto and his companion are complete mysteries, and to top it all off, it looks like that girl has a Kekkei Genkai. I had better handle this carefully.'_

Anko started to get a little inpatient with this shinobi's silent behavior so she charged him while she said "Fine, if you won't tell me your name, then I'll just beat out of you!"

"Anko-neechan WAIT! We need to…" said Naruto as Anko took off toward their enemy. Naruto just lowered his head and said "handle this carefully, (Naruto lifts his head and sees Anko engage the enemy) Why do I even bother? Haku-Chan lets go!"

Anko launched a series of stabs and slashes as she uses her Kunai with ease and skill. But the Shinobi proved to be very agile as he dodged all of Anko's strikes. However before he could launch a counterattack Naruto came in and attacked with a side kick.

The Masked Shinobi saw it coming at the last second and ducked down as Naruto's foot went over his head, only to have Haku appear right in front of him. As Haku's fist moved toward his chin ice started to form on her forearm and spiraled up over her fist to form a spike just as it was about to hit Haku said "Hyouton-Koori Supaiku" (Ice style: Ice Spike).

'_She's fast.' _thought the Masked Shinobi as he jumped back to avoid Haku's spike, but it snagged the mask and ripped it off. When the Masked Shinobi landed his back was to the group but as he turned Anko's eyes widen as she recognized him.

"Asuma!!!" shouted Anko as she just stood there in shock.

"That's right Anko, now you see that I was telling the truth. Hokage-sama, has issued that boys death warrant, and now that you've sided with him, I have no choice, but to consider you an enemy of Konoha, and deal with you accordingly." said a smiling Asuma. (AN: Yup, that's right folks, Kabuto used henge to disguise himself as Asuma. So from now on I'll just be referring to him as Kabuto.)

Upon hearing this Naruto pulled out his Kodachi, and as it gleamed in the sun he said "So, this is how Konoha operates, say one thing in the sun, but do the opposite in the shadows."

"That's what it means to be a shinobi, we work in the shadows, we do the work that must be done, to insure our survival, and now that Anko-san has decided to betray us, I'll have to kill her as well." said Kabuto as he tried to analyze his opponents abilities.

Naruto gets into his fighting stance and then he said "Well then, you leave me no choice. If you're going to try and hurt Anko-neechan, then I'm not going to hold back!"

"The same goes for me, Naruto-kun and Anko-san, have become precious to me, and I'll defend them with my life. Hyouton-Koori Mori." (Ice Style: Ice Lance) said Haku as she channeled chakra through her hands to have ice form and spread out as it to take the form of a lance, when the lance was completed the ice hardened and became like steel.

Anko recovered from her shock in time to hear Naruto and Haku's declaration. She looked over at Naruto, who just nodded his head, when she sees this she gets a smile of her face and then said "Since we all seem to be in agreement, let's go kick his ass!"

Anko was the first to charge, she first tried to stab him with her kunai, but when he batted that away she came back with a spinning round house kick to the head. When she missed she got out of the way as Haku came in with her lance, she came at him with a series of strikes and slashes as she tried to get him off balance.

Kabuto managed to dodge most of the assault but when Haku's lance made contact with his leg, he was thrown off balance, and that's when Naruto made his move. Naruto charged in with his Kodachi and slashed at Kabuto's mid section and missing it by mere inches, so he comes back with a slash to the head.

When that didn't work he tried a roundhouse kick with his left leg, and when that was blocked (then sound of the bone breaking could be heard) he made a quick stabbing motion toward his head.

Kabuto tilted his head to the left while he grabbed Naruto's wrist which stopped the attack a good six inches from his face, but a few moments later a cut appeared on his right cheek and the sound of some branches being cut and falling to the ground could be heard behind him.

"How did you…?" said Kabuto as his eyes widened in shock.

"You like that huh, it's a little trick I learned. Now lets see how you handle this!" said Naruto as a smile formed on his face as he jerked his hand away and did a lightening fast sidekick that nailed Kabuto square in the jaw, more bone cracking could be heard, and that sent him sailing into the air. While Kabuto was in the air Naruto yelled "Anko-neechan!"

Anko appeared above Kabuto and yelled out "Senei Jashu" (Hidden Shadow Snake Hands) Snakes then come out of Anko's sleeves and attached themselves to Kabuto. Anko then twists her body and hurls Kabuto toward the ground. As Kabuto crashes to the ground, he skids to a halt in an area surrounded by water, and then Anko yells "Haku!!"

As Kabuto started to rise Haku finished her hand seals and shouted out "Hyouton-Makyou Hyoushou" (Demonic Ice Crystal Mirrors) as the water started to take on the form of mirrors and then turned to ice. Haku then stepped into the mirrors and started bombarding him with senbon at high speeds.

Kabuto is unable to dodge all of the senbon so he made sure that none of them hit any vital points. As he continues to do this his motions become quicker as his eyes take on a red color.

During Haku's next attack Kabuto suddenly moves to intercept and is able to grab Haku by the throat. As Haku started to gasp for breath she sees Kabuto grab his broken jaw and snap it back into place before he completely healed it.

"Ahh, that's better, I must admit, you guys did pretty well forcing me to use this, but it ends here!" said Kabuto as he throws Haku with such force that she crashes through one of her ice mirrors then hits her head on a rock as she makes contact with the ground. Kabuto just stood over Haku's unconscious body as he turned his head toward Naruto and thought _'Well, I have to leave on of them alive, might as well be this one. I'll get to have my fun with the other two.'_

Naruto put his Kodachi away and watched on proudly as Haku continued her assault when he saw Kabuto suddenly move and capture Haku. Before he could even react Haku was throw out of the dome of ice mirrors and Kabuto was standing over her, the moment Naruto started to move to help he felt a sharp pain in his gut as Kabuto's knee made contact there.

Kabuto then grabbed Naruto's head and smashed it into his other knee. As Naruto started to fall backwards from the blow, Kabuto grabs his arm and throws him into the forest. Naruto went through several trees before he smashed into a rock face and then hit the ground while some of the crumbling rock face landed on top of him.

(With Tsunade and the others)

As Tsunade walked with the others to the arranged meeting place, she suddenly stopped and looked in the direction that Naruto, Haku and Anko were headed when they parted ways. She felt someone put a hand on her shoulder so she turned and found out that it was Shizune who had a concerned look on her face.

"Tsunade-sama, is something wrong?" asked Shizune.

"No, nothings wrong, lets get going." said Tsunade as she shook her head and then continued on with the others. _'What is this uneasy feeling?_ _It's as if something bad is going to happen. I hope Naru-chan's ok.'_

(Back with Naruto)

'_Damn that hurt! What the hell going on? I know I broke some of that bastards bones when I hit him, so how the hell is he still able to fight like that?'_ thought Naruto as he removed the rubble that had fallen on him and that's when he started to hear Kyuubi yelling at him.

"**What the hell are you doing Kit!? He just made you look like a complete rookie!**"

'_Give me a break Baa-Chan, he's different from before, he took out Haku-chan like it was nothing, and then he kicked my ass. What the hell happened to him!?'_ thought Naruto as he finally got all the rubble off of him and was able to stand.

In her cage Kyuubi thought about it for a moment before she said "**I've only heard about one thing that was like this, it was referred to as 'Old Blood', and as for what it can do, your guess is as good as mine, but it obviously increases the persons natural ability a considerable amount."**

Naruto could only nod his head in agreement; he then made his way back to the battle field only to see Kabuto beating Anko badly. _'Damn it! He's just toying with her, if this keeps up… Baa-chan, I need a tails worth of chakra.'_

"**What? Why aren't you going all out?" **asked a very confused Kyuubi.

'_I need to handle this carefully Baa-Chan, I can't afford to make any mistakes. So, I'm going to start with one tail, and if that proves ineffective than I'll start to use more of your chakra, ok.'_ Naruto then started to gather Kyuubi's chakra.

Kabuto had Anko by her trench coat and was about to finish her when he suddenly felt a chakra surge. Tossing Anko aside Kabuto turned around only to see red chakra poring out of Naruto and forming a chakra tail behind him. Kabuto's eyes widen in shock as he thought _'HE'S A JINCHUURIKI!!!!!'_

(At the designated meeting place)

Tsunade had been waiting here for a few minutes when she finally saw Orochimaru come walking up.

As she watched him come closer she saw a sinister grin appear on his face and as he came to a stop about ten feet from her, he looked her straight in the eyes and said "Your response?"

Tsunade closed her eyes as she took a deep breath, she then opened her eyes, returned Orochimaru's stare and said "Tell me Orochimaru, if I join you, how will Konoha realize its mistake? How will they realize the wrongs they've done, if they're burned to the ground!?"

"What nonsense are you babbling about Tsunade? Once Konoha is burned to the ground who's going to care if they realize this mistake or not?" said an irritated Orochimaru.

"And that's the reason I'll never join you!" shouted Tsunade as she charged Orochimaru. At the last second Tsunade jumped into the air and came down with a heel drop.

Orochimaru dodged the kick by jumping into the air, but at the apex of his jump Jiraiya suddenly appeared and launched his attack. Jiraiya was able to catch Orochimaru by surprise and land a punch on his face which sent him sailing back toward the ground.

When he was close to the ground Zabuza came out of hiding and tried to take Orochimaru's head off with a single sword swipe. Orochimaru twisted his body at the last second, avoiding the swing and landed safely on the ground. Just then Shizune showed up, lifted up her sleeve and fired her senbon at him at point blank range.

Once again he was able to dodge them, but they only missed him by mere centimeters, he then jumped to a nearby rooftop to get some distance and gather his wits.

'_Damn! What the hell is Jiraiya doing here? Was he able to convince her to give Konoha a second chance? Oh well, my plan will still work, and then she'll come to me, begging for a chance to get her revenge. Ku, Ku, Ku!'_ thought Orochimaru as a smile appeared on his face and he said "Tsunade, I'm disappointed in you, and I came here today, to warn you about an assassination attempt, on that little brat of yours."

"What?" said Tsunade as she narrowed her eyes and gritted her teeth.

'_Gotcha.' _thought Orochimaru as his smile widened and he continued "I said, I came here to warn you about an assassination attempt, on that little brat of yours. Apparently Konoha wants the brat dead, at least that's what my sources tell me."

"Jiraiya?" asked Tsunade as she turned her head to look at him.

Jiraiya just shook his head and looked Tsunade in the eyes before he said "This is news to me, I haven't heard anything through my network."

Just then they felt a huge chakra surge, Tsunade's eyes widened as she turned to look in the direction of the surge before she said "NARUTO!"

Orochimaru was completely floored by the amount of chakra he was sensing. _'Impossible! This chakra belongs to…'_ His thoughts were interrupted when he heard Tsunade's shout his eyes widened in realization _'Don't tell me, the Kyuubi brat still alive! So, he managed to survive his little scuffle with the Uchiha's after all, and not only that, but it feels like he's able to control the power of his Bijuu. _(A smile appeared on his face as his licks his lips with his snake like tongue.) _This should make the events I have planned out a lot more interesting, Ku, Ku, Ku.' _"It looks like you've been given a choice Tsunade. You can either stay here and fight me, or you can try and save that little brat of yours, I leave that choice to you. Ku, Ku, Ku."

Without a moments hesitation Tsunade quickly turned and ran off towards Naruto's location, the others soon followed after her. As she ran along the rooftops she thought _'Don't you dare die on me Naruto.'_

(Back with Naruto)

Naruto had just finished gathering a tails worth of Kyuubi's chakra when the wind changed direction and Naruto caught Kabuto's scent. _'Huh? I know this scent, but from where?_ (Naruto then focuses his senses even further and makes a startling discovery)_ What the… his whole body is covered in chakra, what a minute. HE'S USING A HENGE!'_

Kabuto looked at the one tailed Naruto, than he turned his attention back to Anko. _'Well, best not take any chances. I'm glad Orochimaru-sama showed me how to do this.'_ thought Kabuto as he made a signal hand seal.

A searing pain suddenly went through Anko's body as she screamed, brought her hand up to her neck as the seal appears between her fingers and then she fell to her knees.

"Anko-neechan! YOU BASTARD!!" yelled Naruto as Kabuto rushed him.

Naruto sidestepped a punch that was aimed for his face; he then ducks a roundhouse kick and counters with a swipe to the legs. As Kabuto fell to the ground he used his hands to push himself back into the air and then does a spin so that he lands on his feet. But the moment Kabuto is able to regain his balance, Naruto appears before him and does a powerful spinning back kick which broke several of his ribs, and sent him flying backwards.

'_What's going on? He's using more Chakra than necessary to keep that henge up, it also seems like his techniques have gotten a little sloppy, and I still have to find a way to check on Haku-chan and Anko-neechan.'_ thought Naruto as glanced over at the unconscious Haku and then looked at Anko who was still holding onto her neck and experience a great deal of pain.

In her cage Kyuubi was also trying to figure out what was happening when it suddenly came to her. "**Kit, it's his 'Old Blood', for some reason when he uses it, it seems to mess with his chakra control, and it also seems that his skill takes a hit. Its looks like he has to sacrifice these, to in order to increase his power speed and endurance."**

'_That makes since, it's not much of a weakness, but I'll take what I can get, and I would really like to know, how the hell he's still fighting with all those broken bones?'_ thought Naruto as he saw Kabuto cough up some blood he then straightens his back as he looked up at the sky for a moment before he snapped his head back down, a smile appeared on his face as he once again charged Naruto.

Kabuto threw a punch at Naruto and when that was caught he threw another punch aiming at his face. Naruto also grabbed this punch and looked Kabuto straight in the eyes before he said "Who are you?"

"What are you talking about? I'm a shinobi form Konoha sent to kill you." said a confused Kabuto as he tried to break free of Naruto's hold.

"DON"T BULLSHIT ME! You know what I'm talking about, you're using a Henge, so I know you're not this Asuma guy! So, I'll ask again, who are you?" said Naruto as he tightened his grip on Kabuto's wrists.

Kabuto grunted in pain as he felt the tightening grip, but he continued to smile and said "Heh, heh, heh, wouldn't you like to know."

When Naruto heard this response he jerked both of his hands down, breaking both arms before he did a powerful front kick which once again broke some more ribs as he went flying backwards hit the ground and came skidding to a halt.

Naruto's eyes widened when he saw Kabuto get back up, jerk his arms so his forearms snapped back into place and then watched on in amazement as he saw the bones heal and the skin grew back which caused Naruto to yell "WHAT THE HELL!?"

Kabuto turned his head to face Naruto and with a smile on his face said "Surprised? I have a special gift that allows me to use my chakra, to instantly heal any wounds inflicted on my body. So why don't you just give up, you know you'll never be able to beat me."

"Oh really, than I guess your Intel is a little off then, because if you did your homework, you'd realize, that giving up isn't in my vocabulary. So why don't we see how you handle this Kyuubi Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!" said Naruto as he made a cross shaped seal and started to channel Kyuubi's chakra into the clones.

Naruto just created two of his Kyuubi clones, who just look at him and nod before they charge Kabuto. While his clones keep Kabuto occupied Naruto uses this chance to check on Haku and Anko.

He reached Haku first and checked her vitals and then he breathed a sigh of relief. _'That's a relief, her pulse is strong, but it looks like she has suffered a mild concussion. Damn it, I don't know how to heal head trauma yet, Kaasan won't cover that subject until next week.' _"I'm sorry Haku-chan, but we're going to have to wait until Kaasan returns, before we can heal you. So until then let's get you to a safer spot shall we?"

After moving Haku to a safer part of the battlefield Naruto made his way over to Anko while his two clones continued to keep Kabuto busy. Naruto saw that Anko was still writhing in pain while she held onto her neck, that's when he noticed the seal there and said "Anko-neechan, that seals causing you pain, isn't it?"

Anko winces in pain and through gritted teeth she said "Y-Yeah, but there's nothing you can do about it gaki, this seal was made by Orochimaru."

"What do you mean?"

"A long time ago, he used me as an experiment to test his new seal. It was suppose to give the wielder great power, but for some reason all it causes me is pain and limits my movements, AAAAAAAAHHHHH…" said Anko before she clutched her neck tighter as the pain increased.

Naruto looked on in worry as Anko screamed even louder. _'DAMN IT!!! I feel so helpless, I don't know a damn thing about seals, but their has to be something I can do. Wait a minute, if that snake freak made the seal, than how could some Shinobi from Konoha know how to activate it unless…'_

His thoughts were cut short when he felt a chakra spike followed by the breaking of the mental link between one of his clones. He turned his head in time to see Kabuto slam his fist into the chest of one of his clones and as the blood came spurting out, the body suddenly went up in a puff of smoke. Kabuto then used his new speed to decapitate the other clone who also went up in a puff of smoke.

When Kabuto turned to face him, Naruto got a good look at his new appearance. Kabuto's eyes had turned a darker shade of red as some of his teeth lengthened and turned into fangs, and though his overall appearance didn't change that much he still had a more beastly feel to him. Naruto narrowed his eyes and thought _'That bastard! Trying to trick us into thinking Konoha was out to kill us, and now that I figured out who he's working for _(He cracks his knuckles as he gets a smile on his face) _it's payback time! Baa-Chan, Give me more chakra!'_

Kabuto looked on in wonder as Naruto grew a second chakra tail and the locked eyes with Kabuto. _'This could be bad, there's no telling how much of the Bijuu's chakra he can control, if I can't stop him now, than I'm a dead man. I can't use to much more of my 'Old Blood' before I just start acting like a wild animal, so I have to end this quickly. WHAT!?'_

He looked on in shock as Naruto reached out with his left arm and Red Chakra in the form of a claw came flying at Kabuto.

"Gotcha!" yelled Naruto as the chakra claw clamped around Kabuto then Naruto proceeded to hurl Kabuto across the battlefield and slam him into a boulder. He then retracted the claw and used his new speed to appear behind Kabuto and use his left hand to back fist Kabuto across the back of his head, knocking him to the ground.

Naruto then picked up Kabuto and proceeded to punch him in the gut before releasing his hold and giving Kabuto an uppercut to the jaw. Kabuto went flying backwards until he hit the ground and skidded to a halt.

'_Grrrr, I'm no match for him at this level, I'll have to come up with a different strategy to defeat him. Wait I still have that with me…, yes, that will get the job done, and it will also prove that he relies on that Bijuu's chakra to much.'_ thought Kabuto as he wiped some blood from his chin and once again used his chakra to heal his wounds.

When Naruto saw the smile appear on Kabuto's face he got into a defensive position and pondered what his opponent's next move would be. His eyes widen when he sees Kabuto move towards Anko and throw senbon at her.

Anko just narrowed her eyes as she saw the senbon head straight for her_ 'So, this is how it ends.'_

Naruto used his speed to get in front of Anko, when he got close he pulled out his Kodachi and used his new wind trick to cut down the senbon, much to Anko's amazement. Anko's lips curled up into a smile as she thought _'Heh, looks like the Gaki gotten better at blocking projectiles.' _That's when Kabuto decided to strike, he pulled out a kunai that had been coated with a special drug of his own design, and throw it at Naruto.

Naruto was so concerned about protecting Anko, that he failed to notice the Kunai until it was too late. The kunai imbedded itself into his right forearm which caused him to drop his sword. That's when he noticed that Kyuubi's Chakra was going back into the seal _'What the hell? It feels like Baa-Chan's chakra is leaving me, not only that but it's getting harder to move.'_

Kyuubi was wondering the same thing when it hit her and she said "**Kit it's the kunai! It must have been coated with something, get ride of it!"**

Naruto then proceeded to slowly pull the kunai out as the drug started to have a greater affect on his movement.

"Heh, Heh, Heh, Heh, I bet you're wondering what's going on aren't you?" said a gloating Kabuto as he walked over and picked up the Kodachi.

"W-What did you do to me?" asked Naruto as he struggled to stay on his feet.

Kabuto got a sinister smile on his face as he said "It's just a little drug I've been working on. It was specifically designed to deal with your kind. It causes the Jinchuuriki's own body to reject the Bijuu chakra and force it back into the seal, and as an added bonus, it also prevents anyone from using medical jutsu to heal you. I've also combined it with a drug that causes paralysis of the muscles. I'm actually surprised that you're still able to stand, after absorbing so much of the drug, but don't worry, it's only temporary, unfortunately for you, you're not going to live long enough for it to wear off."

"Well if you're so sure of yourself, why don't you show me who you really are." said Naruto as he tried to buy some time so he could figure a way out of this.

"Why not, I'll show you who I am before you die, I mean, it's not like you're going to tell anyone anyway." said Kabuto as he dropped the Henge.

Naruto's eyes widened as he recognized him "You! You're the one who was with that snake freak!"

"That's right, and once I kill you, in Konoha's name, Tsunade will come to Orochimaru-sama begging for a chance to get her revenge, heh, heh, heh." said a chuckling Kabuto.

"You Bastard! When I get my hands on you." said Naruto through gritted teeth.

"That's very unlikely, you know if it wasn't for your compassion for friends, than you would've won our little scuffle. That's your weakness you know, you care so much for them, that you would be willing to sacrifice your life, just to save them, well guess what? I'm going to make you watch, as I kill your friend Anko here, but before that, how about a little payback for the beating you gave me." said Kabuto as he stabbed Naruto in the gut with his own sword.

Naruto coughed up some blood as the Kodachi penetrated his abdomen, Kabuto let his smile get bigger as he started to move the Kodachi back and forth while he said "Hurts doesn't it, this should teach you to rely too much on the Bijuu's Chakra."

Kabuto's rant was cut short when a blue aura surrounded Naruto's body and his left hand grabbed a hold Kabuto's wrist before he could let go of the Kodachi. "WHAT!?" screamed Kabuto as he thought _'Impossible, he shouldn't be able to move at all. Wait…, don't tell me he's using his own chakra, to force his body to move! The level of control needed to perform such a feat is considerable, there's no way this kid has that kind of control.'_

"You're wrong, I don't rely on Baa-Chan's Chakra, nor is my compassion for my friends a weakness, in fact it's my greatest strength, it's what allows me to surpass my limits and become stronger." said Naruto while he lifted his head to reveal a smiling face and then he raised his right hand and started to gather his remaining chakra.

'_What jutsu is this? The amount of chakra he's using for it is unbelievable, just how much chakra does this kid have!?'_ thought Kabuto as he increased his struggling to get free.

"Now, lets see you heal yourself form this, RASENGAN!!!" shouted Naruto as he finished his jutsu and slammed it into Kabuto's chest.

The moment Naruto's Rasengan made contact with Kabuto body, Tsunade landed on the battlefield followed closely by Jiraiya, Shizune and Zabuza.

Jiraiya just stood there in shock as he watched the completed Rasengan hurl it victim through a forest of trees before he disappeared beneath the surface of a nearby river. A smile appeared on his face as he thought _'Well what do you know, the kid actually did it_ (Jiraiya's smile quickly changed back to shock as he remembered the bet and brought his hands to his head) _NO! Now I have to pay off all of Tsunade's debts!'_

A smile appeared on Tsunade's face for she was very proud of Naruto for pulling off that jutsu, but that happy feeling quickly turned to one of horror as she noticed the blade sticking out of Naruto's back before he dropped to his knees and the fell onto his left side with a loud thud.

Tsunade rushed to Naruto's side while Shizune had gone to check on Haku who she had spotted the moment she landed. After a quick check Shizune did the necessary jutsu to heal Haku's head injury. As Haku opened her eyes she saw a smiling Shizune who said "How do you feel?"

"My head hurts a little, but otherwise I'm OK. Wait! What happened to that Shinobi we were fighting?" said Haku as she started to franticly search for the Shinobi.

"Don't worry Naruto-kun used a Rasengan on him the moment we arrived, so there's no need to worry." said Shizune before she was interrupted by Tsunade's shouts and both Shizune and Haku looked on in horror when they saw Naruto's condition.

"Don't you die on me! Do you hear me Naruto! Don't you dare die on me!" shouted Tsunade as she pulled the sword out and started to heal the wound, and that's when she noticed something out of the ordinary. "Damn it! Why isn't my jutsu working, and for that matter, why isn't Kyuubi using her chakra to help heal Naruto?"

That's when Anko managed to crawl over to them and then she said "It's because of that bastard, he used some kind of drug to nullified Kyuubi's chakra."

"That explains it." said Tsunade as she turned her head to look at Anko. The moment she saw Anko's condition she quickly shouted out "Jiraiya!" as she turned her attention back to removing the drug from Naruto's system.

Jiraiya came out of his self imposed shock over the bet and went to Anko's aid. As Jiraiya worked on suppressing the seal he noticed something odd so he thought _'That's strange, this seal looks like one of Orochimaru's standard curse seals, but it's not reacting the same way. It seems to be consuming a lot more chakra than the others I've seen, and not only that, but it's not granting her that extra power boost that the others seemed to get. I guess Tsunade was right after all, this seal was designed for another purpose, but that begs the question, what is its true purpose?'_

As Jiraiya finished resealing Anko's curse mark he looked up to see that Tsunade had just finished cleansing Naruto's body of the drug and has already started to heal his wounds when he noticed all the blood which caused him to say "You know Tsunade, if he needs a transfusion, Anko here has the same blood type."

Tsunade and Anko just stared at him with a 'How the hell do you know that look' before Tsunade shook her head and went back to working on Naruto while she filed Jiraiya's words away for later.

Just as soon as Tsunade went back to healing Naruto, Shizune had finally made it over to them and without saying a word went straight to work as she helped Tsunade heal Naruto. As they worked together (Tsunade concentrated on healing, while Shizune made sure that the drug didn't do any permanent damage to Naruto's chakra system), after a little while the others could see color return to his face and then Tsunade let a smile cross her face as she finally let out a breath that she didn't realize she was holding.

When Haku saw the relieved look on Tsunade's face she just had to ask "So, does this mean that Naruto-kun is going to make it Tsunade-san?"

Tsunade's smile never left her face as she turned to face Haku before she said "Yes, he'll be just fine now, a few days of rest, and he should be back to normal. Now let's get out of here and get Naru-chan back to the hotel."

She the proceeded to gently pickup Naruto and carry him back to the hotel.

(A short time later in their hotel room)

Tsunade had just put Naruto down on the bed when she turned around and faced Jiraiya before she asked "Alright Jiraiya spill it, how do you know that Naru-chan and Anko-san have the same blood type? If it had been just about anything else, I would have chalked it up as your usual perverted self, but this is just too strange, even for you."

"I don't know what you're talking about Tsunade, I didn't say anything like that." said a sweating Jiraiya before Tsunade slammed him up against the wall.

"DON"T LIE TO ME!! I know you're hiding something, now tell me what it is!" shouted Tsunade as she shoved him into the wall harder which caused cracks to appear around Jiraiya.

Jiraiya saw the look in Tsunade's eyes and then felt an overwhelming since of guilt for not telling them earlier, so he just lowered his head as he blurted out "Theirfathertoldmeonce."

Tsunade gets a confused look all over her face as she said "W-What did you say?"

"I said their father told me once." said Jiraiya as he looked Tsunade in the eyes so that she could see that he wasn't lying.

"Their father?" said Tsunade as her eyes widened and a shocked expression appeared on her face.

After Anko heard this, her eyes also widened in shock as she took a step back and said "Y-You can't mean…"

Jiraiya just closed his eyes and took a deep breath; he then opened his eyes and looked over at Anko before he said "Yes Anko, Naruto is your half-brother."

(Just outside of Tanzuku Town)

Kushina and Shadow stood on top of a hill that overlooked Tanzuku Town. Kushina looked at the town for a long time before she turned to Shadow and said "So, this is the place right?"

"Hai Sensei, according to the tracer I placed with Naruto-sama's belongings, he should be somewhere in the town." said Shadow as he checked his tracking device.

After she heard this Kushina turned to look at the town once again before she thought _'Just a little longer, and I'll be able to see my Naruto-kun again. I wonder what he looks like know, did he take after me, or you Minato-kun? Well, I guess I'll have my answer soon enough, and I can hardly wait. Please wait for me Naruto-kun, I'll be there shortly.'_

(Secret location somewhere in Konoha)

A person in a standard ANBU uniform walked down the hallway which leads to two large doors. When the ANBU reached this double door they opened it and revealed a large and spacious room. The back wall had a giant map of the five great shinobi nations with troop strength and other statistics written on scrolls that were tacked to the map, while the left wall had an assortment of weapons that the owner of this room had collected over the years, and the right wall had a giant window which gave you one of the best views of the Hokage Mountain. In the center of the room there was a large wooden desk with all sorts of scrolls and document lying across it as if someone had just been reading them.

As the ANBU scanned the room he finally found the person he was looking for, the man was shrouded in shadow as he looked out the window and gazed at the Hokage Monument, the ANBU walked up to the man and knelt down to wait for their presence to be acknowledged.

After a short wait the man finally turned his gaze toward the ANBU and said "Report."

"Our operative in the Hokage Tower, has uncovered something of great interest sir. It appears, that the demon vessel known as Naruto Uzumaki, really did survive his encounter with the Uchiha." said the ANBU while they bowed their head and waited for a response.

The man simply raised an eyebrow as he said "Oh really, so my operative within the Uchiha Clan, failed me after all, well, this complicates matters, continue."

"Yes sir, as I said Naruto Uzumaki survived his encounter, but it also appears, that the reason he survived, was because Tsunade-sama saved him, and not only that, but she then took him in as her own son. We have also learned that the Hokage, has sent Jiraiya-sama and Anko-san out to find them, and bring them back to Konoha. We are currently unaware of what his intentions are, but the last we heard, they had found them in the town of Tanzuku sir." said the ANBU as they finished their report and then waited for instructions.

'_This is bad, if that boy learns of his heritage, and if he and his sister are able to learn their family jutsu's, they would become a serious threat to my plans, and I can't allow that. Damn you Yondaime, if you hadn't become Hokage, than all this planning wouldn't be necessary, but now I have to take care of your son before he becomes a threat.'_ thought the man as he continued to stare at the Hokage Monument before he finally said "I want you to send two squads of your best men to Tanzuku Town, their orders are to kill Naruto Uzumaki, no matter what happens, he must not be allowed to return to Konoha."

Next Chapter A Family Reunion

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Author's note2: Well I hope everyone liked the fact that I made Anko Naruto's half sister. Now it's time for another poll, for the time being Naruto will have three known element. The first one is wind and the second one is water, but the third one I'll let the readers decide.

So the poll question is what do you want the third element to be?


	13. Chapter 13:A Family Reunion

-1

"Speech"

'_Thoughts'_

**Demon/Summon/inner Sakura speech**

_**Demon/Summon thoughts**_

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or any of the characters created by Kishimoto, but all OC's are my own creation.

Dragon Noir: Anko hasn't been able to tell her yet because of all that was going on, but that will be dealt with in this chapter. Now as for how Naruto and Anko are related, they both have the same father but different mother, and I'll be explaining about how that happened in this chapter as well. As for your other question, yes eventual he will be able to combine elements.

dragoon-zerox: Yes details of what the man's agenda is will be leaked as the story progresses.

TheDon1023: To answer your first question, at this point in time no but as he learns to control it better he may gain that ability. Now as for Anko being Naruto's sister, I'm going off the basis that the Yondaime was around the age of 28 or 29 when he died (I don't know his real age, I can't find any info on it) and Anko was around 12 when the Kyuubi attacked so the Yondaime was around 16 or 17 when she was born, I will also say that his first wife was an arranged marriage between his clan and hers. Now as for your Kabuto question, just because he said he's been working on the drug doesn't mean he was the one to create it, the only thing he was able to do was successfully merge a paralysis drug with this one. Just remember who Orochimaru worked for before he struck out on his own, they have been working on it for many years before he stole it and then gave it to Kabuto so he could refine it.

Narutomaniac: I didn't know that henge dispelled like that, I thought that was just Kage Bunshins, and that henge didn't come undone unless the subject lost concentration or was knocked unconsciousness. Now as for the drug, I'll explain in a little more detail, what it does is cause the body of a Jinchuuriki to react in a way that actually redirects the foreign chakra back to its source, but doesn't inhibit the flow of his natural chakra, it's kind of like a filtering agent inside of the body.

Vilkath: First I want to say sorry I didn't specify how many senbon were used, I had just written that he threw senbon not really saying the number, but it wasn't just one it was more like 20 to 25 of them that Naruto was trying to cut down when Kabuto launched the Kunai at him. Second I never went into Anko's reactions to his henge other than to have her surprised when she first saw Asuma, she will be talking about that in this chapter though.

KnighteWolfe: No I don't have one but I've been thinking about getting one.

Author Notes: Well here it is this is the chapter where Naruto will finally get to meet his mother Kushina, as well as acquiring a reason to go and pay Konoha a visit, so I hope you all enjoy this installment.

On with the story

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Chapter 13: A Family Reunion

Anko took another step back after she heard what Jiraiya just said, she looked at him with disbelief in her eyes as she said "T-That's not possible, the only brother I ever had, died over fourteen years ago during the Kyuubi attack, he was crushed by falling debris when he was evacuated from the hospital."

"You were misinformed Anko, Naruto was never crushed by debris, instead Minato sealed the Kyuubi no Youko inside of him, thus sealing his fate as a Jinchuuriki, and in the chaos that ensued, the council was able to declare your brother's death, and then Sarutobi-sensei decided to go along with it." said Jiraiya who was still pinned to the wall by Tsunade.

When Anko heard this she pulled out a kunai and placed it against Jiraiya's throat before she said "All this time! All this time you knew, and you never told me!"

Anko then tightened her grip on the kunai and put enough pressure on it to pierce the skin, and as a small trickle of blood went down the side of the kunai she said "Give me one good reason not to kill you right here."

"I never knew until recently, I may have had my suspicions, but they were just that, suspicions, and they were only just confirmed before we left for this mission." said Jiraiya as he started to pray that Anko wouldn't kill him.

"If what you say is true Jiraiya, then why didn't you tell us this the moment we meet up?" said Tsunade as she gave Anko a slight nod, who in turn reluctantly took the kunai away from his neck.

"When I found out about it, Sarutobi-sensei swore me to secrecy, he told me that he didn't think Anko was ready to learn the truth." said Jiraiya as he let out a breath he'd been holding since Anko threatened to kill him.

"That's not good enough Jiraiya! Even if you were sworn to secrecy, they had a right to know that they still had family left!" said Tsunade as she pulled Jiraiya forward only to slam him into the wall again.

Jiraiya winced from the pain as he tried to find a way out of this situation so he decided to say "But Tsunade, Sarutobi-Sensei labeled this as an SS-Ranked secret, so you know that only the Hokage can give out that information."

"I don't give a damn Jiraiya! You still should have told us!" said Tsunade as she pelted him out the window and sent him flying off into the distance, only to have him land in a ladies hot spring.

As Jiraiya regains his senses he suddenly gets a feeling of dread and as he looked around he noticed that he was surrounded by a bunch of scantily clad pissed off women, some of whom had cracked their knuckles, and as they closed in he said "N-Now Ladies, this isn't what it looks like."

A smile appeared on Tsunade's face as she heard the screams of Jiraiya as he received the beating of his life; she had to stifle a laugh before she said "Serves him right."

It was at this point and time when Anko looked down at Naruto that she decided to talk to Tsunade about the battle earlier, so she walked to Tsunade and said "Tsunade-sama, we need to talk."

Tsunade turned to face Anko and when she saw the serious look on her face, she knew immediately what it was that Anko wanted to talk about so she said "Yes Anko-san, we do, now tell me, was it Konoha that attacked you?"

"No, it wasn't Konoha, it was one of Orochimaru's men, but he wanted us to think that it was Konoha." said Anko as she looked Tsunade in the eyes.

"Orochimaru, that bastard …tell me what happened." asked Tsunade in a very aggravated voice as she clenched her fists.

Anko got a reflective look in her eye before she said "When we were first attacked, he wore a masked, and declared that The Hokage, had issued the gaki's death sentence, but as we fought him, Haku was able to unmasked our attacker, and he looked just like Asuma."

"Asuma?" said Tsunade as she narrowed her eye upon hearing this.

"Yes Tsunade-sama, but it was a Henge. I mean, he may have looked like Asuma, but he didn't act like him at all, and his fighting style was completely different, for crying out load, he even seemed surprised by the use of wind manipulation." said Anko.

"I see, I didn't think Konoha would have the capability to create the drug, that was used on my Naru-Chan, I'm not even sure I would have been able to do it. That drug affects the chakra system somehow, I don't know much right now, but I can tell you, that it somehow redirects any chakra, that is not produced by the bodies own chakra coils, back to it's source. But if you ally enough pressure with your chakra, you will eventually break through this barrier, and that's how I was able to remove the drug from his system" said Tsunade as she looked at the vial of liquid that she had taken from Naruto's body. _'But now that I said that, I'm going to have to study this drug, and see if I can make some kind of counter measure to it. Now that I think about it, who did made it? They would have had to have studied The Bijuu's chakra, as well as how the chakra network works, for years to have come up with it. Damn, I guess I'll have to ask Jiraiya if he knows of anyone that fits that description.'_

"Tsunade-sama, is something wrong?" said Anko as she noticed Tsunade's far off look.

Tsunade was brought out of her thoughts when she heard Anko and that's when she said "Sorry Anko-san, I was lost in my thoughts, why don't you continue."

Anko then proceeded to tell Tsunade about the rest of the battle, that includes everything that lead up to Naruto's stabbing, and once she got to the end she waited to see what Tsunade would say.

After Tsunade heard all of this her only reaction was to look at the wall with an intense glare, she then grits her teeth, and slammed her fist into the wall. _'DAMN YOU OROCHIMARU! When I get my hands on you, I'm going to make you regret what you did.'_

(Naruto's Mindscape)

Naruto sat on the ground with his back resting on the bars to Kyuubi's cage. He sat there in silence as he absorbed the words that he had heard eco through the corridors. The silence was finally broken when he said "I still can't believe it Baa-Chan, I actually have a sister, Hah, and not only that, but it was someone I already considered family. I wonder what else Konoha has been keeping from me, I mean, am I going to find out that I'm the son of some famous hero or something?"

Kyuubi looked down at Naruto with a sorrowful expression, she then morphed into her human form, knelt down beside Naruto and put her hand on his shoulder and said "Who knows kit, who knows, but are you sure you're ok ? I'll lend an ear, if you want to talk about it."

"Not really, I think I'll wait until I can talk with Anko-neechan about it first, but thanks anyway Baa-Chan. The only thing I really want to know right now is, why Konoha saw fit to make my life a living hell?" said Naruto as he closed his eyes, leaned his head back and let his thoughts drift.

Kyuubi moved her hand to Naruto's head and started to rub it as she said "Get your rest kit, I've got a feeling that you're going to need it."

(Several Hours Later Back in the Real World)

We find Jiraiya with his hand holding the side of his face as he walked down a street that would lead him back to the hotel. _'Damn Tsunade, I see your punches haven't gotten any softer.'_

Just then he stopped dead in his tracks looked around for a second and then said "I know you're there, so you might as well come out!"

That's when Shadow appeared in front of him, Jiraiya simply reached into his pocket and pulled out the little tracking device he swiped form Naruto's belongings and said "So you're the one who put this in the brats belongings."

Shadow just remained silent and didn't move a musle, that's when Jiraiya started to wonder what he was up too when he suddenly heard a voice say "I see, you're the one responsible for jamming our signal."

His eyes widened in shock as he recognized the voice, a voice he had not heard in a long time. _'It can't be!' _Jiraiyasnapped his head around to see a person he thought was long dead, with her arms crossed and her back rested on the building behind her. As she raised her head and looked him in the eyes he said only one word "Kushina?"

"It's been a long time Jiraiya. Now, I just have a couple of questions to ask you." said Kushina as she pushed herself off the building and as she walked toward him she continued "First, where is Naruto-kun? where is my son? And secondly, you're going to tell me, what really happened to Anko-Chan."

'_What really happened to Anko?' _"What are you talking about Kushina? Anko's helping Tsunade look after Naruto as we speak." said a very confused Jiraiya.

Kushina got a relieved look on her face as she said "Thank God, she really is alive." then a sad smile appeared on her face as she continued to say "At least they had each other."

"That's not exactly accurate, I don't know what you've been told, but they didn't even meet each other until Naruto was about four, and even then, they didn't know they were brother and sister until now." said Jiraiya with a bit of sadness in his voice.

Kushina just clenched her fist as she said "Those Bastards! It wasn't enough that they separated me from my family, but they had to do the same to them. They forced them to grow up alone and unwanted, I'm going to make them pay for this!"

(Naruto's Hotel Room)

Naruto slowly opened his eyes and looked around the room only to see Tsunade asleep with her head resting on the bed, while Anko and Haku were asleep in adjacent chairs. He then noticed Zabuza as he rested his back on the wall while he just looked at Naruto and nodded his head.

Just then the door opened and Shizune walked in carrying a tray of drinks when she noticed Naruto and said "Naruto-kun! You're awake!"

As the others started to stir, do to Shizune's outburst, Naruto just got a smile on his face as he looked at all of those in the room, he then locked eyes with Anko and thought _'Well, I guess it's time I found out, what my birth parents really thought about me.'_

When she locked eyes with Naruto, Anko decided to just come out and say what she just learned so she looked over at Tsunade who just nodded her head in approval, she turned her gaze back to Naruto and said "Hey Gaki, there's something that I need to tell you, you see, you're my…"

"Anko-neechan, I already know, I know that you're my real sister." interrupted Naruto with a serious expression on his face as he keeps his eyes locked with hers.

Tsunade looked at Naruto with a shocked expression before she said "How?"

"The seal Kaasan, remember, it allows Baa-Chan to experience the outside world while she's stuck in me. Well after I lost consciousness, I uh, kind of wound up in front of her cage, so I heard everything you and Ero-sennin talked about." said Naruto as he looked at Tsunade while he rubbed the back of his head and got a sheepish grin on his face.

Naruto turned his attention back to Anko and asked "Anko-neechan, how are we related?"

Anko took a deep breath and said "Well, you see Gaki, we have the same father, but different mothers."

"Different mothers?"

"Yeah, and believe it or not, they were best friends, and when my mother died, I was still very young, so whenever your mother would visit the village, she would always look after me and treat me like her own." said saddened Anko.

Naruto looked curiously at Anko as he said "Visit the village? So, you're telling me she was from another village?"

"Yeah, she was from a hidden village, based in a country known as Whirlpool."

"Whirlpool? I've never heard of that country before." said a very curious Naruto.

"I'm not surprised, that country was destroyed a long time ago. I don't really know the details, but I do know that after Konoha saved it from absolute destruction, it was made a part of Fire Country."

After Naruto heard all of this, he decided to ask a question that has been bothering him for a long time. "Anko-neechan, I have to know, are my biological parents dead, or did they just abandon me, like an unwanted piece of trash? Just like the people of Konoha would always tell me, when I was a child."

After hearing what Naruto said Tsunade, and Shizune got a sad look on their faces as they lowered their heads, Zabuza got a solemn look on his face as he remained silent, but Haku seemed to be the most affected by this as she got a sad look on her face and thought _'Those, those bastards! How could they tell a small child that? How could they tell him that he was tossed aside like a piece of trash?'_ "Naruto-kun."

Anko also got a sad expression on her face as she said "Gaki, as far as I know, your parents are dead, I was told that your mother died fighting the Kyuubi, and since I've never seen her around the village since the Kyuubi attack, she really must be dead. Now as for our father…, he died making sure the village would be safe, he was the one who stopped the Kyuubi, by sealing her into you, our father died a hero."

"You've got to be shitting me! You don't mean my father was…?" said a completely shocked Naruto.

Anko got a small smirk on her face and said "That's right Gaki, our father was none other than Minato Namikaze, The Yondaime Hokage."

Naruto just sat there as he contemplated what he was just told, when he decided to vocalize his thoughts "So, he was willing to sacrifice his own son, just to save that village, and then he just left me to rot, alone in the village, heh, he probably knew they would hate me."

"That's not true Gaki! He never wanted you to be hated, in fact I'm told his last wish was for you to be seen as a hero." said Anko as she walked over and placed her hand on his shoulder before she continued "If anyone is to blame here, it's the council, they were the ones that declared you dead, and then looked the other way, as you were mistreated."

"That may be the case Anko-neechan, but I still can't help wonder you know." said Naruto as he got out of bed and walked over to the window to gaze out at the night sky.

When Tsunade heard the tone in Naruto's voice, she walked up behind him and place both of her hands on his shoulders and in a tender voice said "Hey Naru-Chan, you alright? You seem a bit down, if you want, we can call it a night, and resume this conversation in the morning."

"I'll be alright Kaasan, it's just a lot to take in, I mean it's not everyday, you find out that your father was the Yondaime Hokage, and not only that, but he's also partly responsible, for your childhood being a living hell." said a saddened Naruto as he put his hand on hers and then turned to look at Tsunade.

After he told Tsunade this he then turned to face Anko and said "Anko-neechan, you told me who my father was, now can you tell me who my birth mother was?"

"Well her name was Kushina Uzumaki, and she was also a great shinobi that hailed from the Whirlpool Country, I mentioned earlier." said Anko.

Kyuubi had been listening intently the moment she her the name of the Yondaime, but when she heard Kushina's name her eyes widened in shock before she got a sad expression on her face and thought _'__**So, he really is her child**__.'_

"Wait a minute! If she had the same clan name I used to use, than how come you never realized that we were related?" interrupted Naruto as he got a curious look on his face.

Anko started to rub the back of her head and with a sheepish grin she said "Yeah, well you see, after the Kyuubi was sealed, The Sandaime made a public announcement about it, and then told everyone that you were given the clan name Uzumaki, to honor the Shinobi that sacrificed her life, in order to make sure that the sealing was successful."

'_**Hold on, something's not right here, I don't remember Kushina-san, being on the front lines of battle, as the Yondaime preformed the sealing.**'_ thought Kyuubi as she laid down in her cage and tried to figure out what was going on.

Meanwhile Naruto had returned to gazing at the night sky through the window, and after a few more minutes of silence Tsunade got a worried look on her face and said "Come on Naru-Chan, why don't I fix you, some of your favorite ramen, and we call it a night, huh?"

"No thanks Kaasan, I've just got too much on my mind right now, to be thinking about food. If anything else comes up, I'll be on the roof, …I just need some time to think things through." said Naruto in a low voice as we walked out of the room and headed toward the roof.

When everyone in the room heard this they just stood there in shock, Tsunade herself was particularly concerned _'This isn't good, I've never know Naru-Chan to turn down ramen before, the truth about his parents must really be bothering him. I just wish there was something I could do to help, but I'm afraid that he's going to have to sort this out on his own.'_

(On the roof on the hotel)

Naruto was lying on his back with his hands behind his head as he stared up at the night sky and thought about all he learned _'So, I'm the son of the man I use to admire when I was little, the famous Yondaime Hokage, and another great shinobi, by the name of Kushina Uzumaki. I don't know how I should feel about this, on one hand I should be happy to learn, that my birth parents really didn't hate me and abandon me as I feared, but on the other hand, I still can't help but feel a little resentment toward them. I mean, they went through all that trouble, just to make sure the village was saved, but they didn't even bother, to make sure that their own family would be looked after.'_

"**Don't be to quick to judge them kit, I don't think they would have left you to fend for yourself, there's something funny going on here."**

'_What are you getting at Baa-Chan?'_

"**I'm not to sure myself, but I do know that we don't have the full story here, and there is only one place I know, that we can get it."**

'_Konoha huh? I always knew, that I would have to deal with them one day, but I didn't think it would be so soon.'_

Just then Naruto detected a familiar presence behind him, he sat up and then turned to look behind him as he said "You can come out now Haku-Chan."

Haku had her head lowered as she came around the side of the slanted roof and as she approached Naruto she said "I didn't mean to disturb you Naruto-kun, but I just thought you could use some company."

When Naruto saw the look of concern in her eyes, he couldn't help but get a smile on his face as he tapped the area beside him in a 'come and sit here' motion before he said "You're not disturbing me Haku-Chan, and besides, I could use the company."

There was a short silence as Haku sat down next to Naruto and both of them just looked up at the night sky, until Naruto said "You know Haku-Chan, when I was little, I use to do this a lot, I would spend hours just staring up at the night sky, and wonder about my parents, who they were, what they were like, ya know, stuff like that. I even wondered what it would feel like, if I found out I was the son of my Idol, The Yondaime Hokage…, Heh I guess now I know."

After Naruto finished his reminiscing another long silence ensued until Haku finally decided to say "Naruto-kun, is what you said back there true? I mean, did the villagers really tell you, that you were abandoned by your parents, like a piece of trash?"

Naruto just let out a deep breath as he said "Yeah it's true, when I was really little, I can remember walking the streets of Konoha, were some of villagers wouldn't hesitate to tell me that."

"Naruto-kun."

"Hey don't worry about it Haku-Chan, it's all in the past now, besides…" said Naruto as he stood up that's when he noticed a figure moving among the rooftops. _'Isn't that…'_ "Yugito?"

'_Yugito?'_ thought Haku as she too stood up and turned to look at what had caught Naruto's attention, and saw the figure moving along the roofline that's when she said "What's she doing here?"

"I don't know Haku-Chan, but I intend to find out." said Naruto as he got a serious expression on his face.

"But Naruto-kun, do you think that's such a good idea? Shouldn't we go and get the others first?"

"We don't have time to go back and get the others, and besides this will be a recon mission, nothing more. I have no intention of engaging her, so, I'll send a Kage Bunshin to inform Kaasan, while we track her, ok?" said Naruto as he formed a cross like seal and said "Kage Bunshin no Jutsu"

"Alright Naruto-kun." said Haku she nodded her head and both of them set out after Yugito while the bunshin ran inside to inform Tsunade and the others.

(At The Entrance of Town)

Two ANBU squads arrived at the entrance to town when their leader started to issue orders "Alright people, I want everyone to spread out and search this place, if you locate the target, don't engage. We have been ordered to engage the target as a single unit, so, you are just to contact the others and await their arrival. Is that understood?"

"Yes sir!" was the reply of all the other ANBU members, as they separated and started to search the town.

(Back at the Hotel)

Tsunade had just poured herself a cup of sake when Naruto's bunshin ran through the door. He looked at her and said "Kaasan, the boss wanted me to tell you, that he's spotted that kunoichi Yugito in the city, and has gone on a recon mission, to try and figure out what she's up to. He also wanted you to know, that he doesn't plan on engaging her at this time, and should he run into any trouble, he will use the warning system you set up for those other shinobi."

"What the hell was he thinking?" said Tsunade as she put down her sake bottle and looked the bunshin in the eyes.

The Bunshin just returned the gaze and said "Kaasan, the boss plans to find out were she's stationed at, or at the very least, find some information on where she will be going, so we can set up an ambush, and guarantee her capture, so we can interrogate her properly."

"But why the hell, did the gaki go alone!?" shouted Anko as she got up from her chair and made he way over to the Bunshin.

The Bunshin go a grin on his face as he said "He didn't, Haku-Chan went along with him, so don't worry, they'll be fine."

Tsunade then came over and grabbed a hold of the bunshin's shoulders and said "Before you disperse I want you to tell Naru-Chan to leave a trail, so we can follow him if anything happens, is that understood?"

"The boss figured you would say that, so I'm to let you know, that he's already doing that as we speak." said the Bunshin as his smile widened and then disappeared in a puff of smoke.

After the bunshin dispersed Zabuza decided to speak up "Tsunade-sama, I think we should just let them do this recon mission on their own."

"How can you say that Zabuza-san? Don't you remember what happened last time they met." said Shizune as she started to prepare so she can follow Tsunade and go after Naruto.

"I remember, but don't you forget what he just said, it's just a recon mission, so the fewer members there are, the less likely it is, that they'll be spotted." said Zabuza as he remained with his back resting against the wall.

Tsunade just let out a sigh and said "He's right, for now we'll go along with Naru-Chan's plan, and wait here, but at the slightest sign of trouble I want everyone ready move, got it?"

Everyone in the room just nodded their heads as Tsunade went back over to her bottle of sake and took a sip as she thought _'Just be careful out there Naru-Chan.'_

(Back with Naruto and Haku)

They had been following Yugito for a little while when she suddenly increased speed and made a sharp turn around a corner.

'_Shit! Did she spot us?'_ thought Naruto as he had Haku stay back as he looked around the corner only to find it a dead end.

"You're good, I was barely able to tell that you were following me. If I hadn't used my Bijuu's chakra to enhance my senses than you probably would have gone unnoticed." said Yugito as she stood behind both Naruto and Haku.

Both of them got into a defensive stance and readied themselves for Yugito's attack, but it never came. Instead Yugito took up a non-aggressive posture and put her hands up before she said "I didn't come here to start a fight."

"Oh really, than what may I ask, are you doing here?" asked a very suspicious Naruto.

Yugito took a deep breath and then said "I'm here representing Kumogakure no sato, and we have a proposition for you."

"I'm listening." said Naruto as he put his hand on his Kodachi.

Yugito looked Naruto straight in the eyes before she said "Kumo would like to form an allegiance with you, and your companions."

(Back with Jiraiya and Kushina)

After Kushina's little proclamation Jiraiya asked "Kushina, how are you still alive? I thought you were killed when the Kyuubi attacked, and why did you leave Naruto and Anko, to the mercy of the village?"

Kushina visibly flinched when Jiraiya asked her about Naruto and Anko, she then got a sad look on her face and lowered her head before she said "I didn't know. (She lifted her head to reveal tears coming down her cheeks) I did know they were still alive. Shortly after Minato-kun left with Naruto-kun to perform the sealing, three council members came in, and informed me that Naruto-kun had been crushed by some debris from a collapsing building, and to make matters worse they told me that Anko-Chan had died trying to save him."

"Wait a minute Kushina, you're telling me, that while Minato was performing the sealing, several members of the council already informed you that your family was dead?" said Jiraiya as he started to wonder _'Did the council plan this from the beginning? Why would they want Kushina to think that her family was dead?'_

"Yes Jiraiya, that's exactly what I'm saying, but that's not the strangest thing. Not too long after they left me to grieve, some strange ANBU showed up, I didn't know at the time, but they were a part of 'Ne'. They then accused me of causing the Kyuubi's attack, because of her connection to Whirlpool, and then they said that my punishment for this, was death." said Kushina as she got a serious look on her face and then continued "To bad for them, that they underestimated me, and after I took them out, I managed to make my way out of the village."

"And you've been in hiding ever since?" asked Jiraiya.

"Not exactly." said a smiling Kushina.

"What do you mean?"

"Well…" said Kushina before she was interrupted by a kunai that landed at her feet. She then bent down to examine it when she noticed a small piece of paper wrapped around the kunai.

Kushina opened the piece of paper, her eyes widened in shock as she read the message that was written on it. When she finished reading the note, she scrunched it in her left hand as she snapped her head to look at Shadow before she said "Shadow, we have to move NOW! They're after Naruto!"

Jiraiya looked on in confusion as he said "Who's after Naruto?"

"Ne, they sent two teams of ANBU after my son!" shouted Kushina as she took off in a westward direction, soon to be followed by Shadow and Jiraiya.

"Where are we going?" asked Jiraiya as he finally caught up with Kushina.

Kushina looked over at Jiraiya as she said "We're heading over to a secluded area on the Westside of town. That's where one of the ANBU members spotted Naruto-kun, the rest of them are already converging on that location as we speak."

Jiraiya looked at her in complete shock before he said "How do you know all of this?"

A smile appears on her face as she picked up her pace and said "You're not the only one that has connections."

(Back with Naruto)

Naruto just looked suspiciously at Yugito before he said "You want to form an alliance with me and my companions?"

"Yes, that is the will of the Raikage."

"Does this offer extend to Zabuza-sensei as well?" ask a curious Naruto as he watched and waited to see what her reaction would be.

A scowl appears on Yugito's face and through gritted teeth she said "Yes, it includes him as well."

"Why do you…" Naruto never got to finish his question as he heard a rock fall from the rooftops and land on the ground. As Naruto, Haku, and Yugito get into their fighting stances they find themselves surrounded by ANBU.

'_This is bad, were outnumber at least three to one, there's no way we can take them on by ourselves. I just hope Kaasan can get here in time.' _thought Naruto as he pulled out his Kodachi while he flared his chakra.

(With Tsunade and the others)

Tsunade had been gazing at the Night sky when she felt Naruto's chakra flare, she immediately turned to face the others while she shouted "LETS GO!" before she jumped out the window and ran off toward Naruto's location.

As she ran along the rooftops Tsunade glanced back to see the others were right behind her and as she turned her head back toward the area where she felt the chakra surge she thought _'Damn it! Was Naruto spotted by Yugito, or did someone else find him?'_

(With Kushina)

Jiraiya, Kushina and Shadow were already making their along the rooftops when they felt the chakra surge.

Kushina was amazed by the amount of chakra she felt and the looked over at Jiraiya before she said "Was that Naruto-kun?"

"Yeah that's Naruto's chakra alright, it looks like the battle has already begun." said Jiraiya as he picked up his pace and tried to think of any shortcuts that would get them their faster.

As Kushina increased her own pace she narrowed her eyes as she thought _'Naruto-kun, they took you away from me once, I'm not going to let it happen again, not again.'_

(Back with Naruto)

After Naruto pulled out his Kodachi, a female ANBU with purple hair stepped forward and pulled out her own sword before she said "So kid, you think you can handle a sword, do you? Well why don't we find out, a one on one fight, just you and me, what do you say?"

'_Is she really an ANBU member? It's rather stupid to go one on one when you could charge us all at once and finish us off. But then again, I could use this to my advantage, If I can hold my own against this ANBU, than I can buy us some time, until Kaasan gets here.'_ thought Naruto as he tightened his grip on his Kodachi and said "Fine, but it's just you and me, no one else."

Haku looked over at Naruto with a curious gaze, but when she saw the look in his eye, she immediately understood what he had planned. A small smile appeared on her face as she said "Good luck Naruto-kun, and don't worry, I've got your back."

Naruto glanced over at Haku and nodded his head before he returned his gaze back to the female ANBU and said "Well, shall we begin?"

As the female ANBU stepped forward the leader of the group grabbed her arm and said "What do you think you're doing? You know we've been order to take him out no matter what."

"Relax, I just want to see what makes him such a threat, beside this fight will be over in five seconds, he's no match for my swordsmanship." said the Female ANBU as she pulled her arm free and walked toward Naruto.

The leader looked at her for a second before he said "This isn't like you, why are you doing this?"

The female ANBU turned to look at her leader before she said "I already told you, I want to see why he's considered to be so dangerous." She then turned back toward Naruto and continued with "Sorry about that, so are you ready to begin?"

"I'm ready, but if you think this is only going to take five seconds, you're sadly mistaken." said Naruto as he stepped forward and got into his fighting stance.

The female ANBU was the first to charge with a slash toward the neck to which Naruto easily knocked away and using the momentum from that he spun around and delivered a back fist to the ANBU's mask.

Naruto watched as the ANBU recovered from the blow and said "It's been more than five seconds."

"Not bad kid, you're better than I thought, so I'll take you more seriously this time." said the female ANBU as she came in much faster this time.

The proceeding blows to the neck, torso, and back were barely blocked as she forced Naruto into a defensive posture. He continued to block the next few blows until she came in with a stab to the chest and Naruto was able to counterattack by once again knocking the sword to the side, and the he does a spinning heel kick that connects with her right shoulder blade, which caused the shoulder joint to slightly dislocate.

"AAAAAAA!!!" screamed the female ANBU as she felt the pain of the dislocation, but she didn't get the chance to recover as Naruto can in with several slashes and kicks aimed at the head, torso and a few slashes to the legs.

She continued to dodge until she was able to get some distance and while she held onto he shoulder she said "Damn it kid, you shouldn't be this good, who the hell trained you!?"

Naruto gets a smile on his face as he said "Zabuza Momochi, one of the seven swordsmen of Kiri."

"ZABUZA MOMCOHI! That's not possible, why would he train a kid like you!?" said the female ANBU as she popped her shoulder back into place.

Just as the female ANBU was about to launch another attack the leader appeared behind her and put his hand on her shoulder before he said " I've had enough of this! The fight is over."

"What!" shouted the female ANBU.

"You heard me, we're going to finish this now! All of you ATTACK!" ordered the leader as he pulled out his own sword and charged Naruto.

'_Shit! Did he figure out what I had planned?'_ thought Naruto as he got into a defensive position and waited for the leader to reach him.

As Naruto blocked the leaders strike, two more ANBU appear on either side of him and slash their own swords at his mid section cutting him in half before he went up in a puff of smoke.

The three ANBU all said the same thing "WHAT, KAGE BUNSHIN!? When did he?"

Naruto then jumped down from the rooftop and managed to plunge his sword into the back of the neck, of one of the attacking ANBU, just above the shoulder blades.

As Naruto pulled the blood soaked blade out of the body he turned to face the leader and said "Swordsmanship wasn't the only think Zabuza-sensei taught me. Haku-Chan NOW!"

The moment Naruto finished those words a thick mist rolled in completely blanketing the area, and as the leader saw Naruto's figure fade into the mist he said "You're only delaying the inevitable boy. I'll admit, you caught me off guard with the Kage Bunshin, but you won't surprise me again."

"We'll see about that." said Naruto as he started to do a series of hand seals. The moment he finished he shouted "Suiton: Daibakufu no Jutsu" (Grand Waterfall Technique)

The mist started to gather and condense around Naruto until it had completely liquefied. It then shot out in a rotating mass as it headed toward the three attacking ANBU.

"No way." said the leader as he and the other two ANBU jumped out of the way of the oncoming water. As the leader landed on a nearby roof he watched the destructive path of the water as he thought _'This kid, he was able to draw out the moisture in the mist and use it in his jutsu,_ _if he's able to develop this skill further, he might be able to draw water out of the molecules in air just like The Nidaime Hokage. It's a shame that we weren't able to bring him into Ne, he would have made a fine weapon.'_

He then looked over at the other two ANBU and said "Use attack plan 3F."

They both nodded and then all three made a cross shaped seal and said "Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!" as each one of the created three clones, they then got into a battle formation and charged Naruto's location.

'_Shit! This is not good!' _thought Naruto as he created his own bunshin's and readied himself for the oncoming assault.

Yugito found herself surrounded by four ANBU as the mist thinned out, carefully eyeing her opponents Yugito saw only one recourse _'Looks like we get to have some fun after all, eh Nibi?' _

"**That is does Yugito, but you still need to be careful, it seems that these ANBU, were sent to kill Kyuubi's container, so it's logical to assume that they my have countermeasures for Jinchuuriki."**

'_That may be the case, but we don't really have a choice, we have to fight.' _thought Yugito as she started to channel her Bijuu's chakra and then transformed into her two tailed form.

When the ANBU saw this transformation one of them said "She's a Jinchuuriki as well, take appropriate measures, we have to seal off the Bijuu's chakra at all costs!"

The four ANBU separated as Yugito fired one of her fiery blast, after a few more of those attacks each of the ANBU created some Kage Bunshin's and with the extra help set about the task of capturing Yugito.

Several of the clones met a grizzly death as they went about analyzing Yugito's attack patterns in hopes of finding a weak spot. That's when another clone met a fiery death by way of her blast when they noticed a slight loll in her reaction time, seizing upon this new information the ANBU devised a plan of attack.

After Yugito fired another blast two clones appeared on either side of here and launched a cable that wrapped itself around her snout, they then proceeded to pull down hard forcing Yugito's head down.

This caused her to lose her balance and once that happened, the ANBU latched more cables onto her paws and pulled them out from under her forcing her to the ground. Once on the ground they quickly used more cables to secure her to the ground.

Now that Yugito was secured one of the ANBU walked up to her head and after seeing the fury in her eyes he said "You're a tough one, no doubt about that, we had to use a large amount of our chakra to create those clones" he the pulled on one of the cables to make sure it was secure before he continued "I bet you're wondering about theses cables here, aren't you? Well, we acquired them through back room deals, with the current leader of The Land of Snow. They were designed to us the captives own chakra, to reinforce there structural integrity, so as long as you still have chakra, you won't be able to brake them."

Naruto's fight wasn't going so well either, after the clone battle ended, he found himself constantly on the defensive until on of them managed to land a kick on his midsection which caused him to collide with Haku.

'_Damn it! There not even giving me enough time to channel my chakra, let alone to call on Baa-Chan's chakra.'_ thought Naruto as he got to his feet and looked over at Haku before he said "Well Haku-Chan, this isn't looking to good is it?"

Haku wiped her busted lip and spat out some blood before she said "Not really Naruto-kun, any suggestions on how we're going to get out of this?"

"Uh, I'm still working on that, but I do know that if we want to live, we have to hold out until Kaasan gets here." said Naruto as he readied himself as the ANBU charged again.

Just then Kushina, Shadow and Jiraiya appeared between Naruto and the ANBU, Kushina impaled the first ANBU to reach her, which caused the others to stop in their tracks. As the ANBU fell limply to the ground Kushina got a murderous glare in her eyes as she said "If you take one more step toward Naruto, I'll kill you! I'm not going to let any of you harm my son!"

Naruto just stared at the back of this redheaded stranger with a confused look on his face as he thought _'S-SON!?'_

Mere moments later Tsunade came in with a heel drop, which connected with the head of one of the remaining ANBU members. The ANBU's head completely shattered upon contact with the ground, leaving the headless ANBU half buried inside of a giant crater.

As Tsunade walked out of the crater Shizune, Anko, and Zabuza made it to the battle zone and ready themselves for battle.

The leader's eyes widened and he took a step back as he recognized the redheaded Konoichi "I-It can't be! What the hell is she doing here!?"

One of the younger members turned toward their leader and asked "What are you talking about sir? Who is she?"

Never breaking eye contact with Kushina the leader said "She's the SS-ranked shinobi in The Ne Bingo Book, she's the one we've been trying to kill for years. That's Kushina Uzumaki, better known as 'Sono Ru- Ijin' (The Redheaded Devil)!"

"S-Sono Ru- Ijin! You've got to be kidding me! You're telling me, that we're facing the one shinobi, that stories say only the Yondaime could defeat?"

Naruto's eyes widened as he heard the conversation between the two ANBU, he instinctively took several steps back as he continued to stare at the redheaded woman. _'S-She can't be my birth mother, i-if she is, than that would mean…'_

Naruto was brought out of his thoughts as Jiraiya poked him in the ribs and said "Don't lose focus now brat, in case you forgot, we're in the middle of a dangerous situation here."

He shook his head a couple of times to clear his thought as he took a quick glance of the area he noticed Yugito tied to the ground being guarded by two of the four ANBU she had been fighting earlier, bringing he focus to the ANBU in front of him he said "Hey, Ero-sennin, can you free the giant two tailed cat over there, she's like me, and would be of great help right now."

"Two tailed cat?" asked Jiraiya as he looked over at where Naruto's eyes had pointed to and when he saw Yugito tied down he said "Ok, how did I miss that?"

"Stop goofing around Ero-sennin, will you free her or won't you?"

"Calm down kid, I free your little girlfriend for you." said Jiraiya as he moved off toward Yugito's location.

"SHE'S NOT MY GIRLFRIEND!!!" shouted Naruto at the retreating form of Jiraiya.

A small smile crossed Kushina's face as she heard the antics of Naruto and Jiraiya, and when she noticed Jiraiya heading off she said "Shadow, go with Jiraiya and help him free the Jinchuuriki, use what ever means necessary. Understood?"

"Hai sensei." said Shadow as he dissolved into the shadows.

After Shadow left Kushina returned all of her focus on the five ANBU in front of her and before anyone can react Kushina just disappears and reappears behind one of the younger ANBU and slits his throat, she then used the momentum of her slash to through the kunai at another ANBU, it pieced his mask right between the eyes and penetrated the skull, killing him instantly.

As both bodies hit the ground simultaneously she turned to face the leader and in a cold voice said "Now there's only three."

Naruto just looked on in wonder as he saw Kushina take out two of these ANBU like it was nothing and said "She's good."

"Yes she is, she was one of the greatest Konoichi to ever work for Konoha." said Tsunade as she walked over to Naruto to see if he and Haku were alright while Anko, Shizune, and Zabuza provided cover.

While Tsunade checked Naruto and Haku out, Anko looked at Kushina in disbelief _'I can't believe you're still alive.'_ Anko's disbelief soon turned to rage as she narrowed her eyes and clinched her fists as she thought _'How could you? How could you just up and leave us? Didn't we mean anything to you at all!?'_

After she checked both of them out Tsunade then turned and narrowed her eyes at Kushina, who was staring down the remaining ANBU, while she thought _'When this is over Kushina, you and I are going to have a lot to talk about.'_

Jiraiya had just arrived at Yugito's location when he saw Shadow come out of the shadows behind one of the ANBU stationed there and as Shadow slit his throat, Jiraiya chopped the other on in the back of the neck, knocking him out.

Shadow just looked down at his slain victim and said "This is the best Konoha has to offer?"

"Don't take them to lightly now, it looks like these ANBU used a lot of chakra when they captured are little cat here." said Jiraiya as he pointed at Yugito who just growled in response.

Jiraiya then proceeded to remove Yugito's restraints and once she was free, she remained silent as she reverted to her Human form and then grabbed some of the cable she was tied up with and walked over to the ANBU that was still alive. As she tied him up with the cable she got a smile on her face as she said "Now, lets see how you like being tied up in this cable of yours, and once you wake up, I'm going to enjoy making you talk."

"Not now, we have more pressing matters to attend to." said Jiraiya as he put his hand on her shoulder.

Yugito just shrugged her shoulder which knocked Jiraiya's hand off, and as she stood up she said "I know old man, just give me my space, and let me go to work."

"Actually, I don't think our assistance will be necessary." said Shadow as he pointed in the direction of Kushina's fight.

Kushina narrowed her eyes as she ran forward and delivered a powerful sidekick to the chin of one of the three remaining ANBU, snapping his neck in the process, and as his body hit the ground Kushina said "And then there were two."

"Not quite, Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!" yelled the leader as he created as many clones as he could, a total of fifteen in all, and charged Kushina.

"Fool, that jutsu won't work on me…" said Kushina as she used her speed to get behind the leader, and after she pulled out her sword and impaled him in the chest, we see all of his clones go up in smoke while she added "I've mastered it to such an extent, that I can tell which one of you is the real one."

As Kushina pulled the blade out, the leader's body fell to the ground, she turned to face the purple haired ANBU. Kushina raised her sword and pointed it at the purple haired ANBU and said "I'm not going to kill you, I want you to deliver a message to your master. Tell him, that if he harms one hair on Naruto's head, hell itself won't be able to save him from my wrath."

"H-Hai." said the purple haired ANBU as she hightailed it out of there, and headed back to Konoha as fast as she could.

As the ANBU shrunk into the distance Anko's rage finally boiled over and she went over to Kushina, grabbed her shirt and shouted "What the hell did you do that for!? We could have interrogated her, and found out who is after Naruto! DON'T YOU CARE ABOUT HIM AT ALL!?"

Kushina hid her anguish behind a serious expression and said "I see you haven't changed that much over the years Anko-Chan, still as hotheaded as ever, now, would you please let go of me, so I can explain my actions."

Once Anko released her grip Kushina pointed over towards Jiraiya's location and said "You see, we still have a prisoner to interrogate, so, we'll find out everything we need to know."

After Anko saw the tied up ANBU, she crossed her arms and narrowed her eyes at Kushina before she said "That may be true Kushina, but YOU still have a lot to answer for."

"I know." said Kushina as she got a solemn look on her face and started to walk towards Naruto.

As she got closer to Naruto, Kushina started to get really nervous and self-conscious about introducing herself to Naruto. When she finally reached him she closed her eyes for a seconds, you could hear a 'gulping' sound as she swallowed and then took a deep breath before she bowed her head and said "H-Hello Naruto-kun, my name is Kushina, and…, and I'm your Kaasan."

When Naruto heard this he took several steps back while he lowered his head so that his hair covered his eyes and in a low voice said "So, I really was abandoned like a piece of trash after all."

"Naru-Chan…" said Tsunade as she got a sad look on her face before she started to walk towards Kushina.

Upon seeing Tsunade walk towards her Kushina bowed her head and in a respectful tone said "Thank you for looking after Naruto-kun, when I could not Tsunade-sama."

The moment Kushina came up from her bow she was met with a hard slap to the face as Tsunade said "HOW DARE YOU! You let everyone believe you're dead, then you leave Naru-Chan to the mercy of a village that hates his guts, and now you just show up, and expect Naru-Chan to just accept you!? Where the hell where you, when he was little, huh!? They made his life a living hell you know! If we hadn't taken him in… "

Tsunade's rant was cut short when a crying Kushina shouted back "IT WASN'T LIKE THAT!! The council told me both of them were dead, and then they tried to kill me! You have to understand, if I had known they were alive, I never would have left them!"

"It's not my understanding or forgiveness, you should be asking for." said Tsunade as she gave Kushina a harsh glare.

Kushina's tears increased as she turned to face Naruto and Anko, and said "I'm asking for everyone's understanding and forgiveness."

Naruto's hair still covered he eyes as he said in a low voice "Why…" He then raises his head and shouts "Why should I believe you!? How do I know, that you won't try and kill me, the first chance you get!? How do I know, that you're not like rest of Konoha!?"

As Kushina heard this she dropped to her knees and with tear filled eyes she looked at Naruto and pleaded "Please, I'm begging you, at least give me a chance to prove myself to you, and then you can decide whether, or not I'm telling the truth."

It was at this point and time that Kyuubi let Naruto what she thought about Kushina's plea "**Kit, I think you should give her a chance to prove herself.**"

'_What!? I can't believe you Baa-Chan, she left me in that hellhole, and you want me to give her the benefit of the doubt, why?'_

"**Look kit, you know better than anyone, what Konoha's capable of, so it is possible, that she could really be telling you the truth, and besides, if you don't, than you'd be no better the people of Konoha, that wouldn't give you the chance to prove, that you were you, and not me."**

Naruto remained silent for a moment as he contemplated Kyuubi's words before he crossed his arms and he grumbled "Fine Baa-Chan, you've made your point, I'll give her a chance to prove herself."

'_Baa-Chan?' _thought Kushina as she heard Naruto talk out loud. After a few moments of pondering her eyes widened in realization and a smile formed on her face as she thought _'Thank you Kyuubi-sama.'_

Tsunade looked down at Naruto with a curious expression as she said "Are you sure about this Naru-Chan? I mean, she did leave you in that hellhole of a village."

"I know Kaasan, but if I don't give her a chance to prove that she's telling the truth, than I'll be no better than the people of Konoha." said Naruto as he tried to put up a brave front.

When Anko heard this she just turned her gaze back at Kushina and said "It seems the Gaki's willing to give you a chance after all. So, I'll reserve judgment for now, but if you do anything to hurt him, I'll make you pay, got it."

"I understand Anko-Chan." said Kushina as she watched Anko turn around and head over to the captured ANBU. _'I see, Anko-Chan doesn't really trust me either._( she then let out a deep sign) _It_ _looks like I got my work cut out for me.'_

When Anko and the others made it to the captive ANBU's location, Yugito was about to begin the interrogation. She pulled out a kunai and then she removed his mask and said "Alright pal, it's time to talk, or you'll find out just how many different uses this kunai has."

The ANBU's only response was to spit in her face, which caused Yugito to backhand him. As Yugito wiped the spit from her face she looked at the ANBU with an intense gaze as she brought her kunai up to eye level before she said "Alright, now you've done it, I'm going to enjoy showing you a new meaning of pain."

But before she could start however the ANBU bit down on his teeth hard, which released a deadly poison into his body. Within a matter of seconds he started to foam at the mouth and then he had violent convulsions before he fell over dead.

"Shit! You took the cowards way out, you little bastard!' shouted a seething Yugito.

Shortly after his collapse Naruto and the others arrived, Naruto took one look at the dead body and said "DAMN IT! Now we'll never now who he worked for!"

"He belonged to a group called Ne." said Kushina as she walked up to the body, rolled him over to reveal his tattoo.

"Ne?" asked Naruto as he walked up to get a closer look.

"It's a special forces group based out of Konoha, but unlike the regular shinobi there, they will only follow the orders of a man called Danzou." interjected Jiraiya.

"Danzou? Why would that old war hawk want Naru-Chan dead? If anything, you think he would want to capture Naru-Chan, and turn him into a living weapon or something." said a perplexed Tsunade.

Jiraiya just looked down at the corpse and brought his hand up to his chin in a thinking posture and said "And in that lies the question, doesn't it? I'm starting to wonder, if Danzou had some part to play, in the destruction of the Namikaze Clan."

"What do you mean Jiraiya?" asked Kushina in a curious tone.

"I'm not too sure myself, but it just seems like too much of a coincidence, that the Kyuubi, which has a connection to Whirlpool, attacked the day that Naruto was born. Not to mention the fact that you said the ANBU that attacked you, accused you of causing The Kyuubi's attack in the first place." said Jiraiya with a serious look on his face.

Tsunade's eyes widened as she said "You can't mean, that he…"

Jiraiya turned to face Tsunade and in a very serious tone said "That's right Tsunade, I think he planned all of this from the beginning. Think about it, first, he's somehow able to trick the Kyuubi into attacking the village, which he knows that Minato would gladly sacrifice his life to protect, then, he must of used his influence in the council, to get them to declare Minato's only son dead, and ban Anko from ever using her fathers clan name, thus negating her claim on the Namikaze Estates, and finally, he sends his Ne after Kushina to silence her, but when they failed to kill her and she managed to escape, he was able to have her declared dead."

Naruto, who had been listening to the whole conversations up to this point blurted out "So you're telling me that this Danzou guy, is responsible for the living hell I went through when I lived in Konoha?"

"It seems that way kid." said Jiraiya as he looked down at Naruto.

"But why? Why would he go to such great lengths just to get rid of one clan? I mean, what could he have possibly gained from it?" asked Shizune

"That's the real question, isn't it? With the clan effectively wiped out, all of there power and influence would be gone, not to mention the fact that all of there belongings and land would then be in the control of the council itself. So, he could be after anything from resting more control over the council, to wanting something that belonged to the Namikaze clan, we just don't have enough information right now to know what he's after." said Jiraiya.

Naruto knew where this was leading to, so he let out a deep breath and said "And the only way we'll be able to get this information, is if we go to Konoha, right?"

Jiraiya looked Naruto straight in the eyes and said "That seems to be our only option right now."

"Now wait just a minute here Jiraiya, I'm not to sure about this, how do you plan to pull this off? I mean, short of having Naru-Chan join Konoha, how are we going to explain, why were staying there for so long?" said a curious Tsunade.

Jiraiya thought about it and after a few moments of contemplating he suddenly got a huge grin on his face as he said "I've got it, The Chunin Exams are going to start soon, and it just so happens that it's Konoha's turn to host them. So, all we have to do is say that Naruto is here to participate, then, while he's taking the exams, we can just look around and see what we can find."

"That's not going to work Jiraiya, in order to take the exams, he needs to be a Shinobi of a hidden village, not to mention the fact, that Naru-Chan will also need two other team members." said Tsunade.

"That's not entirely true Tsunade-sama, he doesn't need to be a Shinobi of the village, just a Shinobi that represents the village." said Kushina as a smile begins to form on her face and once she has everybody's attention she continues "If Naruto-kun will allow it, he can represent my village in the upcoming Chunin Exams."

Naruto just narrowed his gaze at Kushina as he contemplated this proposal, and after a few moment of silence he said "I don't really have a choice do I? This is the only option I have, if I want to find out why this man Danzou wants me dead, but, I'm just going to represent your village. If you ever prove yourself to me, that's when I'll decide whether of not I'll join, agreed?"

"Agreed" said a disheartened Kushina.

"Well then, I guess, the only thing let now is the two other members of my team." said Naruto.

This is when Haku finally decided to speak up "I'll be part of your team Naruto-kun."

A smile formed on Naruto's face as he heard this "Thank you Haku-Chan, but what are we going to do about our third member?"

"Don't worry about that Naruto-kun, I'll take care of getting you a third team member ok?" said Kushina.

Naruto looked at Kushina with a skeptical expression before he turned toward Tsunade and said "What do you think Kaasan?"

"Well Naru-Chan, you said it yourself, if we want to find out what's going on, we don't really have a choice, but to trust her." said Tsunade, she then turned to look at Kushina before she continued "But Kushina, I'll be this teams Sensei, is that clear."

Kushina got a smile on her face as she bowed her head and said "I wouldn't have it any other way Tsunade-sama."

As Kushina bowed her head, Naruto turned to look at Yugito before he said "Well Yugito, it looks like we'll be in need that alliance after all."

This comment caught the attention of everyone in the group, and Tsunade walked up to Naruto and asked "Alliance?"

"Oh yeah that's right, with everything that's been going on, I haven't had the time to tell you, but Yugito here, has come with an offer from her Raikage. He wants to form an alliance with us, and considering everything that we're about to go through, having Kumo as an ally doesn't seem like a bad idea right now." said Naruto as he rubbed the back of his head.

Tsunade just let out a sigh and brought her hand up to her forehead as she said "Naru-Chan, while it may be true that we could use all the help we can get. Don't you think, that you should have discussed it with us first?"

"Hey, that was my initial plan Kaasan, but after this ANBU attack, don't you think it would be a good idea, that we have some allies to call for backup, incase we get in over our heads?"

Tsunade remained silent for a moment before she let out an aggravated sigh and said "Fine, I'll agree to this alliance for now, but Naru-Chan, next time this happens I want a little more warning. Understand?"

When she saw Naruto nod his head Tsunade got a smile on her face and put her hand on his shoulder as she said "Now come on, lets head back to the hotel, we're all going to need our rest, for the journey to Konoha tomorrow."

Yugito walked up to Naruto and Tsunade and said "Well then, I'll take my leave, and report all that's happened to The Raikage. And since you're all going to Konoha, I won't be able to make contact with you, until the final part of the chunin exams."

"Alright, when you arrive in Konoha, go to the pub that is a block from the west side of the stadium." said Tsunade.

Yugito then bowed and said "Until next we meet." After she said this she jumped onto a rooftop and headed off into the night.

Once Yugito was gone Tsunade turned to Kushina and said "Now that were heading back to Konoha, what do you plan to do Kushina?"

"I've just been reunited with my son, and I have no intention of leaving him now. So, I'll be going with you Tsunade-sama, and besides, you're not the only one that wants to talk to the old man." said Kushina.

"Alright, now lets all get back to the hotel, we're going to be heading out at first light, and I want everyone to be well rested." said Tsunade as she started to head back to the hotel.

As everyone else started the trek back to the hotel, Naruto couldn't help but think about everything that has happened in the last few days, when he remembered about Anko's seal. So he made his way over to Jiraiya and when then rest of them were out of ear shot, he tapped Jiraiya on the shoulder and said "Ero-sennin, I want you to teach me about seals."

(Several hours later at a secret location- somewhere in Konoha)

The purple haired ANBU had just finished giving her mission report when the shadowy figure slammed his fist on his desk and said "Get out of my sight."

"Y-Yes Danzou-sama." said the purple haired ANBU as she bowed and then left the room a quickly as possible.

Danzou stood up and walked over to the window and as he stared out at the Hokage monument he thought _'Well Yondaime, it looks like your wife, has finally decided to show her face. I guess this means, I'm going to have to alter my plan a little bit, but I'm not worried, there's no way they'll be able to stop me, and once my plan comes to fruition… lets just say, that I'll have everything I've always wanted, heh, heh, heh, heh.'_

Next Chapter: Konoha's Shock! Naruto returns to the village of his birth.

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Author's note 2: Man that was a long chapter, and as you can see from the title of the next one, we get to see what Konoha's reaction to Naruto's survival will be. Not only that but the Chunin exams will be starting in the next chapter as well.

Now as for the poll here are the results so far.

Lightening: 21

Fire: 12

Earth: 11

Metal: 3

Darkness: 2

I'll be keeping the poll open until the end of the preliminary round, and I've also been given some great Idea's for a couple of the elements and since the two runner ups are so close I may use them at some point as well. I do have an idea on how to do this, but I'll keep it to myself, at least until the prelims are over. So I hope to see you all back here for the next chapter.


	14. Chapter 14: Konoha's Shock!

-1

"Speech"

'_Thoughts'_

**Demon/Summon/inner Sakura speech**

_**Demon/Summon thoughts**_

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or any of the characters created by Kishimoto, but all OC's are my own creation.

Attention!!: I'm just letting you know, that after reading some of the reviews, and then rereading it myself, I've decided to revise the council meeting, also as a way of saying sorry at the end of this revision will be a slight teaser for the next chapter.

lazarian: We'll find out about it during the third part of the chunin exams.

F-14 Tomcat Lover: So far we have only seen the bias view of the main characters. When we get to the Council scene in this chapter we will see that there is a lot of political turmoil in Konoha concerning Naruto, and Danzou is always trying to use this turmoil to his advantage, we'll also find out that not all of them are against him. Now as for Naruto's reaction to Kushina, he was a bit overwhelmed at the time with just finding out that he had a sister, to who his parents were, and the fact that his mother was still alive, so he overreacted a little.

Narutomaniac: Your assumption on who the purple haired ANBU is, is correct, but as for the other part, I can only say this, things are not always what they appear to be. If I say any more, I will be giving away too much.

Author's note: I'm glad to see that everyone seemed to like the last Chapter. In this chapter we will see what the council's reaction to Naruto's survival will be, as well as Danzou's own political savvy.

Now on with the story

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Chapter 13: Konoha's Shock! Naruto returns to the village of his birth.

Naruto and the others were only a few miles from Konoha when they decided to stop for a short break. Naruto himself sat down by a big tree and pulled out a scroll on seals that Jiraiya had given him just before they left Tanzuku Town, Zabuza and Haku decided to do a little training and Shizune made herself a cup of tea. As Naruto continued to read the scroll, Kushina watched him from a distance, to nervous to get any closer.

Tsunade saw this and walked up to Kushina before she said "In case you're wondering, he's reading a scroll on Fuuinjutsu. I saw Jiraiya give it to him as we left Tanzuku Town."

"Fuuinjutsu? Why would he be reading about that?" asked Kushina as she turned toward Tsunade.

"A few days ago, he learned about the seal Orochimaru placed on Anko-san, and if I know my Naru-Chan, he probably wants the find a way to remove it." said Tsunade as a smile formed on her face before she continued "In a way, he's just like his father, always willing to do whatever he can to help the people he cares about."

A sad smile appeared on Kushina's face when she heard Tsunade refer to Naruto as hers. With a bit of sadness in her voice she said "Tsunade-sama? Do you think I'll ever become, one of the people Naruto-kun cares about?"

"I can't really say, because my own feelings on this matter are little mixed, but I can tell you this, you showing up yesterday, was probably the worst possible time to do so. I mean in less than five hours he learned that he had a sister, then he's told who his parents were, one of which sealed the Kyuubi into him, and then finding out, that one of them was still alive. That's a lot to take in, and in such a short time too, so his reaction wasn't to surprising." said Tsunade as she turned to look at Kushina.

Kushina looked at Tsunade with a little confusion before she said "A little mixed? But Tsunade-sama, I've already told you, that I had no idea that they were still alive."

Tsunade got a serious look on her face as she said "I know that, and I have no doubt, that there are some people on the council that are capable of destroying whole families, just to accomplish their agenda's, but I can't just take things at face value, without looking into it first either. So, just like Naru-Chan, I'm giving you the benefit of the doubt, until we can prove, or disprove your story."

"That's all I can ask for right now I guess, but I hope I can prove myself to all of you soon, because I want to get to know the family, that was stolen from me. Now if you'll excuse me Tsunade-sama, I think it's time I start doing that right now." said Kushina, as the talk with Tsunade seemed to ease her nerves, so she did a quick bow and then headed off towards Naruto.

As Tsunade watched Kushina walk off she just shook her head and thought _'I don't know if I should wish you luck, or not Kushina. I mean, do you intend on taking him away from me, or do you just want to become another part of our family?'_

As Kushina approached Naruto, he continued to read the scroll until he heard her say "So Naruto-kun, I hear that you're reading up on seals. If you like, once we get to the village, I'll take you to our old estate, and we can find some of your father's writings on Fuuinjutsu."

Naruto thought about it for a long time before he looked up at Kushina and said "Sure, what have I got to lose, and if it will help me find a way, to help Anko-neechan, than I'm all for it."

"You care about Anko-Chan very much, don't you?" said Kushina as she got a sad look in her eyes.

"Yes, I do, she was one of the first people, to actually take an active interest in my welfare. After I met her, she started to spend a lot of her free time with me, and even started to train me in the art of the shinobi. So, I'll do whatever it takes to help her out." said Naruto as he looked Kushina in the eyes.

Kushina was doing her best to suppress her tears as she said "I'm sorry Naruto-kun. I wish I could have been there for you, when you needed me the most."

When Naruto heard this he closed up his scroll and the looked Kushina in the eyes once more before he said "Wishing you could change a mistake in the past is pointless, instead, you should focus on making sure that you don't repeat those mistakes."

He then stood up and started to walk away but after a few steps he came to a stop, closed his eyes and took a deep breath. He then opened his eyes and turned to look over his shoulder at a depressed Kushina before he said "I'm sorry."

Kushina's head shot up with a confused look on her face as she started to fear the worst "Y-you're sorry?"

Naruto's gaze never faltered as he continued "About yesterday, now don't get me wrong, I meant every word I said. What I'm sorry about, is the manner in which I said it, with everything that happened yesterday, I was kind of overwhelmed, and when I met you, all my frustration and anger just came to the surface. So, for what it's worth, I'm sorry about my conduct yesterday."

For a reason she couldn't explain Kushina got a smile on her face as she said "It's alright Naruto-kun, I understand, I just hope I can prove myself to you, and the others soon."

"We'll see." said Naruto as he turned to face forward and then continued on toward the rest of the group.

As Kushina watched Naruto's retreating form she felt a fierce determination well up inside of her as she thought _'I don't care what it takes, but, I WILL prove myself to you Naruto-kun. That's a promise.'_

(Several Hours later)

The group of traveling shinobi, had just reached a hilltop that overlooked Konoha, when Kushina suddenly pulled a mask out of her back pouch and puts it on, she then ties her hair into a low ponytail.

Once she was finished fixing her look, she noticed that everyone had a confused expression on their faces as they looked at her. So she just shrugged her shoulders and said "What? I just don't want anyone to know who I am, as least, not until we talk to the old man."

Tsunade just shook her head and motioned everyone to continue on. "Lets just get going, I want get the meeting with Sarutobi-Sensei over with as soon as possible."

(A few minutes later at the Gates to Konoha)

As the group approached the gates, two Chunin guards put up their hands in a stopping motion and said "Halt! Please present your ID, and state your reason for coming to Konoha."

That's when Jiraiya stepped forward and said "It's alright guys, me and Anko here, were ordered by Hokage-sama, to find and bring back Tsunade and her companions, so he could have a word with them."

One of the guards looked at all the people that where with Jiraiya, when he recognized one of Tsunade's companions to be none other than missing nin Zabuza Momochi, as well as two other shinobi of unknown origin, that's when he pulled out his kunai and said "I'm sorry Jiraiya-sama, but we can't allow that missing nin to have free access to our village, so we're going to have to put him under arrest."

Anko was very irritated at this point, so she got a pissed off look on her face and pulled out her own Kunai before she said "Are you trying to impede us in our mission, because if you are, not only will I make your life a living hell, but I'll also inform Hokage-sama, that you're the reason that our mission failed."

It was at this point that Jiraiya put his hand on Anko's shoulder and said "Easy now Anko, we don't want to do anything we'll regret later."

"Humph, speak for yourself Jiraiya." said Anko as she got a sneer on her face.

Jiraiya just shook his head and then turned to face the two Chunin's before he said "Look, I don't know how much longer I can hold her back, so why don't you just leave them in my care, and I'll take full responsibility if anything happens, ok?"

The guard got a nervous look on his face before he said "Very well Jiraiya-sama, we will let you take Zabuza into custody, but these other shinobi, will have to wait here, if they don't have the proper identification."

"Then their won't be any problems, you see, we have the proper identification." said Kushina as she and Shadow pulled out their ID's and then continued with "You see, our village will be participating in the upcoming Chunin Exams, and we are here to finalize the arrangements."

The Chunin Guard looked over their papers before he returned them and said "Well, everything seems to be in order, but you need to abide by our laws, while you're visiting our village. If you do that, than there won't be any problems."

"Don't worry, we won't cause any trouble while we're here." said Kushina as she put her papers away.

After the group got past the front gate, they made their way to the Hokage Tower. As they traveled down the street, several villagers would give them curious glances, and a couple even did a double take when they noticed Naruto before they simply shook their heads and say "Nah. That can't be the demon, he died a long time ago."

A little further down the street, Naruto notice the Ichiraku's ramen stand, his eyes widened as he walked toward the stand and said "I remember this place."

As Naruto walked up to the stand, Tsunade made a motion for everyone to wait there as she followed Naruto, she was curious as to what drew him to this one particular stand. When Haku saw Tsunade walk off and make a wait here motion, she got a curious expression on her face as she said "Where are they going?"

Anko just got a smile on her face as she too noticed the ramen stand and said "They're heading to the Ichiraku Ramen stand, over there."

"Humph, we have more important things to do, than have him indulge his unusual appetite for ramen." said Zabuza as he crossed his arms.

"It's not like that. That place was the gaki's safe haven back when he was a child, it was the one place he could go, and be treated like a regular person, no harsh glares, no rude comments, none of that, he was just a regular child to them." said Anko as she gave Zabuza a stern look.

Haku got a smile on her face as she looked at the stand and thought _'Naruto-kun, at least you had one place here, that didn't see you as the Kyuubi.'_

Kushina had remained quite during Anko's explanation, but once Anko finish, Kushina just started to walk toward the ramen stand determined to see the people that held no grudge against her son.

When Naruto reached the stand he pushed back the curtain and looked at the counter and noticed a picture propped up in the left hand corner. Naruto then proceeded to pick up the picture and look at it, for it was a picture of himself as a small boy, with Anko sitting on his left side, a small girl, who looked to be around eight years old, sitting on his right side, and the owner of the stand was standing behind all three of them. Naruto's eyes widened in shock as he said "I can't believe they still have this."

"Can't believe they have what Naru-Chan?" asked Tsunade as she walked up behind him and looked over his shoulder.

Tsunade couldn't help but smile as she saw the picture she then put her hand on his shoulder and said "Well, it looks like you had some happy time here after all, huh Naru-Chan?"

"Yeah, this was the one place I could go, and not feel hated all the time." said Naruto as he got a reflective look in his eyes.

That's when the stand waitress came out from the back and said "Sorry for the wait, how can I help you today? …Hey! Put that back! If you came here just to torment us, than you might as well leave right now."

Naruto turned to look at the waitress and when he saw the look in her eyes, he looked back at the picture he was holding and when he say the same look in the little girls eyes, his own widened even more as he turned back to face her and said "A-Ayame-Chan?"

"How do you…, it can't be." said Ayame in disbelief as her eyes widened and she took a closer look at Naruto. After she looked him up and down she said "It may be a little longer, but it's still the same spiky blonde hair, same deep blue eyes, and those whisker marks are unmistakable. Y-You're Naruto-kun, aren't you?"

Naruto started to rub the back of his head and gave her his trademark foxy grin as he said "Yep it's me, it's been a long time, hasn't it Ayame-Chan?"

Tears started to stream down Ayame's face as she enveloped Naruto in a hug and said "I-I can't believe it. How? I mean, they told us you were dead."

Before Naruto can even answer Tsunade said "They thought he was, and he would have been too, if Shizune and myself hadn't found him when we did."

Ayame releases the hug and when she looked at Tsunade her eyes widened in recognition as she said "You're Tsunade-sama, one of the legendary sannin, aren't you? And you're the one who saved him?"

"That's right, and I've been looking after our little Naru-Chan here ever since." said Tsunade as she walked up to Naruto and started to rub his head.

"Kaasan!" shouted Naruto as he got his head away from Tsunade's hand before he looked around the stand and added "Hey Ayame-Chan, where is old man Teuchi?"

"He went out to get some more supplies, but he should be back soon, if you want to wait around."

"I'm sorry, but we don't have time to wait around. Let's go Naru-Chan, we have to go and meet with Sarutobi-sensei, but once that over with, you can come back and visit if you want, alright." said Tsunade as she got a smile on her face.

Naruto just nodded his head and then turned to face Ayame before he said "Sorry Ayame-Chan, but I'll come back and visit later. So make sure you're ready, because when I come back, I'll want try every single dish of ramen you have, got it."

A smile formed on Ayame's face as she said "You bet Naruto-kun, I'll be sure to have it ready for you, when you return, and when you do, we can catch up and find out what the others been up to, ok?"

"Sure thing Ayame-Chan, see you later." said Naruto as he waved good-bye before he lifted the curtain and left the Ramen stand.

Once they walked past the curtain Naruto noticed that Kushina had her back resting on one of the wooden beams of the stand, you could see a smile appear behind her mask as looked at Naruto and said "I'm glad to see that not everyone in this village hated you."

"Yeah, old man Teuchi and Ayame-Chan, always treated me like they would treat anyone else. This was always a place I could go, and get away from the hatred, at least for a little while anyway." said Naruto as he continued to follow Tsunade back to the group, before they all headed to The Hokage Tower.

(A short time later in the reception room of the tower)

When they entered the room Jiraiya walked up to the desk and said "Hokage-sama is expecting us, so could you please let him know we're here."

"Of course Jiraiya-sama, Hokage-sama has already informed me of your arrival, so you can go right on in, but I was only informed that you would only be bringing Tsunade-sama, and her to traveling companions, Shizune-san, and a boy between the ages of fourteen to fifteen. So the others will have to wait out here until you're done." said the chunin at the desk.

"Unfortunately, I can't do that, you see, all of these people are involved with the matter, that Hokage-sama sent us to retrieve Tsunade in the first place. So, I would really appreciate it if you let them all pass. If you're worried about protocol, I'll take full responsibility." said Jiraiya as he waited for a reply.

After a few moments of silence the Chunin said "Very well Jiraiya-sama, but I'm putting a note in the log that you are taking responsibility for the other guests."

"That's fine." said Jiraiya as he led everyone into the Hokage's Office.

Once everyone was inside the office they each went to different areas of the room, Zabuza and Haku moved to a couch that was on the right side of the room, with Zabuza choosing to lean against the wall of course. Kushina and Shadow stood on either side of the big double doors, and Shizune and Naruto stood behind Tsunade, who stood beside Jiraiya and Anko.

When Sarutobi saw that everyone was situated, he put down his pipe and got up from his chair and came out from behind his desk and said "I see that you managed to bring back more people than you were originally sent out to get Jiraiya."

As Sarutobi spoke to Jiraiya, Anko was using every ounce of willpower she had not to grab Sarutobi and slam him against the wall. It became so bad that she visibly started to shake and through clinched teeth she said "Why?"

At first Sarutobi couldn't quite make out what Anko had said. So he turned to face her and that's when he noticed her trembling with rage. _'Uh-oh, from the looks of it, she knows that Naruto_ _is her half-brother.' _"Anko, you have to understand, you see…"

"Understand!? What there to understand!? You let me think that my own brother was dead! And I want to know WHY!?" shouted Anko as she started to clench and unclench her fists.

Sarutobi let out a deep sigh and then said "Look Anko, at the time you were too young to be looking after a baby, so I thought it best to go along with the council's decision."

Before the situation could escalate any further, Tsunade grabbed a hold of Anko's arm and said "Look Anko, I know how you feel, but now's not the time to be dealing with the reasons, for Sarutobi-sensei's decision to hide the truth from us. In case you forgot we have more pressing matters to attend to."

Anko saw the look in Tsunade's eyes and understood what she meant so she just sighed in defeat and said "You're right Tsunade-sama."

With that taken care of Tsunade turned back to face Sarutobi and said "What is so important, that you had to send Jiraiya and Anko out to get me?"

Sarutobi gets a serious look on his face and said "It's about Naruto."

"I kind of figured that Sarutobi-sensei, so I'm still waiting for you to answer my question." said Tsunade as she got an impatient look on her face.

Sarutobi gave Tsunade a harsh glare before he continued "Look Tsunade, it's only a matter of time, before the council finds out about Naruto's survival, and when that happens, some of the council members may try to coerce him into becoming a Konoha Shinobi."

"Humph, that's not going to happen." said Naruto as he crossed his arms over his chest.

Sarutobi got a sad look on his face and said "Naruto, will you not even consider the possibility of staying here in the village?"

"And why would he want to stay in a place that seems to hate his guts?" said Kushina as she finally made her opinion known.

As Sarutobi looked at the masked Konouchi, he got the feeling that he had met her before, so he narrowed his eyes in a curious manner and said "Have we met before? And how is it that you know so much about this?"

Kushina hardened her gaze at Sarutobi and said "We've met before, but for now, I'm just a Shinobi from Kumorigakure no sato, who's here to finalize the arrangements for our participation in the upcoming Chunin Exams, and as for my knowledge of this, you'll find out soon enough."

"Kumorigakure no sato? That's the new hidden village that popped up in the last few years. Are you trying to get Naruto to join your village?" said Sarutobi as he looked at Kushina with great suspicion.

"That has yet to be decided." said Naruto.

A look of confusion crossed Sarutobi's face, but before he could vocalize his question a Chunin messenger entered the room and said "Forgive my intrusion Hokage-sama, but you asked to be informed when it was time, for the council meeting regarding the Chunin Exams."

Sarutobi let out a deep sigh before he dismissed the Chunin he then turned to Tsunade and said "I'm sorry Tsunade but it looks like we'll have to finish this discussion another time."

Tsunade just got a smile on her face as she said "That's alright, because I'll be going with you to the council meeting, along with Zabuza and the two shinobi from Kuromi."

"What?" said a shocked Sarutobi.

"I said we'll be going with you to the council meeting. I going telling the council, that I intend to enter Naru-Chan in the Chunin Exams, and the people from Kuromi have agreed to help me." said Tsunade as she put her hands on her hips and gave Sarutobi a 'don't question me look'.

"So, you're telling me that he'll be representing Kumori during the Chunin Exams?"

Kushina immediately responded with "You bet old man, and he'll show this whole village, that it was a mistake to treat him the way they did."

Sarutobi gave Kushina a harsh glare and said "Old man? I don't know how they do it in Kumori, but here in Konoha we don't go around speaking to the village leader that way."

Tsunade immediately interjected with "We don't have time for this. Sarutobi-sensei, once you learn who she really is, her attitude towards the village will make since, but she doesn't want to do that until we speak with the council. So, could you please lead the way?"

"Very well Tsunade, but I'll expect some answers when this meeting is over." said Sarutobi as he pointed his finger at Tsunade.

Tsunade just nodded her head before she turned to Naruto and said "Hey Naru-Chan, why don't you, Haku-san, and Shizune, go look around the village while we deal with the council, you can even go and pay that ramen stand owner a visit, so, what do you say?"

Naruto thought about it for a moment before he shrugged his shoulders and said "Sure, and besides, I don't want to be in a room with all those stuck up council members anyway. But I do that, I want you to tell me everything that happens in there, deal?"

A smile formed on Tsunade's face as she said "You've got yourself a deal Naru-Chan. Just don't get into any trouble, I don't want to deal with the council anymore than necessary alright."

"I'll stay out of trouble, man, you worry too much Kaasan." said Naruto as he waved his hand dismissively at Tsunade before he turned to Haku and Shizune. "Well, shall we get going, I can't wait to have some of Ichiraku's ramen, it use to be my favorite when I lived here."

After Naruto, Haku, and Shizune left Jiraiya pulled out his spy glass and jumped onto the window ledge before he said "Well, since I'm not needed anymore, I think it's time I got back to my research."

He then waved goodbye as he jumped off in the direction of the hot springs. Anko then ran over to the window and shouted "Hey you perverted lazy ass! You were the one, who's supposed to file the mission report!"

When Jiraiya was no longer in sight Anko clenched her fists and then headed out of the Hokage office while grumbling "Damn pervert, leaves me to do all the work. When I get my hand on him, not even Tsunade-sama will be able to identify the remains."

Once Anko left the room, Sarutobi grabbed the tip of his hat and pulled it down slightly and said "Let's go."

As they walked to the council room Sarutobi asked "Tsunade, I've been wondering, how did you meet Naruto? I mean, you haven't stepped foot inside the village since you first left all those years ago."

"You're right, this is the first time I've set foot in the village, since I left. So, as you can guess, I didn't meet Naruto here, in fact, I found Naru-Chan lying lifeless in the bushes, along the road leading to Tanzuku Town. If we hadn't found Naru-Chan when we did, he wouldn't be with us now." said Tsunade as she lowered her head and got a sad expression on her face when she said the last part.

"Tanzuku Town? How did he get all the way out there, and in the condition he was in?"

"It was a body dump. The only reason we found him at all, was because of two Shinobi coming out of the bushes, and then fleeing when they saw us. And that's not all, after we healed him, Naru-Chan told us who attacked him. He didn't remember their faces, but he told us that they all had the same eyes, they all possessed The Sharingan Sarutobi-sensei."

Sarutobi's eyes widened in shock as he said "The Uchiha Clan attacked Naruto! But that doesn't make any sense, they were always his biggest supporters on the council."

This comment shocked both Tsunade and Kushina, Tsunade was the first to vocalize this "Supporters on the council? What are you talking about? From what I could gather, it seemed like the council was out to get Naru-Chan?"

"While it's true that a great number of them have shown intense hatred for the boy, there are a few clans here that have tried to help stem the hatred, and then there are some who are indifferent about him, it's all really complicated to explain. So, it best that I just show you." said Sarutobi as they reached the doors to the council chambers.

As Sarutobi opened the double doors he led Tsunade and her party into the Council Chambers. The council members were stunned to see that Tsunade had returned. As the group reaches the middle of the room Shikaku Nara was the first to get over his shock and he let out an annoyed sigh and said "I see the rumors are true, Tsunade-sama has indeed returned to Konoha."

Danzou leaned back in his chair and said "So it seems Shikaku-san, and I can't help but wonder, what motivated this sudden change of heart. For did she not say that she would never return here."

"I'm only here so that my son can take the Chunin Exams and that's all." said Tsunade as she watched the council with a calculating eye.

This comment shocked the council and caused Tsume Inuzuka to ask "But Tsunade-sama, as far as we know you never had children, so how can your son be taking the Chunin Exams?"

Tsunade looked Tsume straight in the eyes and said "I adopted a child over nine years ago."

"This is great, we can put him on the Uchiha's team, and watch them dominate the exams, think of all the money those two will bring in once everyone sees their skills." said a money grubbing council member.

Inoichi Yamanaka got a serious look on his face as he said "But the Uchiha's already been assigned a third teammate, and it won't be right to just toss them aside just so Tsunade's son could take the exams."

"You're right Inoichi-san, and besides my son will never work with that bastard of an Uchiha anyway." said Tsunade in a deadly serious voice.

Danzou took this opportunity to ask Tsunade "Really now Tsunade, is calling the last of the great Uchiha Clan, a bastard, appropriate? I mean, what could that boy have ever done to you that would make you use such language?"

Tsunade gave Danzou a harsh glare and said "Oh I don't know, how about when he tried to kill my son, and nearly killed his best friend in the process."

"Those are some serious allegations Tsunade, surely you have some proff to back it up?" said Danzou as he leaned back in his chair.

Tsunade never broke her gaze as she said "I have no physical evidence, but I do have eyewitnesses, namely myself , my assistant Shizune, Zabuza Mimochi, and the Kumari Shinobi Shadow."

"Then their can be no charges filed, because as you are aware Tsunade, no Shinobi can be charged with a crime unless there is some ckind of physical evidence linking the individual to the crime." said Danzou as a smile appeared on his face.

"As much as it pains me to say this, he's right Tsunade-sama. Unless you have some kind of physical evedince than no charges will be filed against Sasuke Uchiha." said Chouza of the Akimichi Clan.

Tsunade just grunts and in a sarcastic voice said "That's just what I expected from you anyway. The same old garbage, honestly you're like a broken record."

"Tsunade-sama, I know that you are the granddaughter of the Shodai Hokage, and you're one of the legendary Sannin, but you really should be more respectful when talking to us, we are the ruling body of Konoha after all." said Homura Mitokado.

"I'll show you more respct when you've earned it." said Tsunade.

Hiashi Hyuuga tried to change the subject when he said "Anyway Tsunade-sama, would you be kind enough to tell us the name of your son."

Tsunade got a smile on her face as she said "Gladly, his full name is Naruto Uzumaki."

This stunned the council and that's when the head of the Haruno clan said "That's impossible! The demon child died over nine and a half years ago!"

After this was said a lagre amount of KI could be felt, coming from both Tsunade and Kushina, a few seconds later Tsunade looked straight at the Haruno Clan head and in a menacing voice said "Call him that again, and I won't be responsible for the consequences."

Danzou's smile never left his face as he said "But Tsunade-sama, the fact remains that it is true that the denom was killed on October 10 almost ten years ago, when he was attacked by an unknown group of people, leaving behind an unseemly amount of blood in an alleyway."

"That my be true, but he didn't die that night, because I save him from his injuries and then took him in as my own sun." said Tsunade as she narrowed her eyes and thought _'How the hell does he know so much about the attack on Naru-Chan?'_

Tsunade's thought stopped when she noticed that both Tsume and Inoichi got smiles on their faces when the heard this, she then looked at the rest of them and noticed that Hiashi remained as emotionless as ever, Shikaku got a serious look on his face as he seemed to weigh the pros and cons, Chouza of the Akimichi Clan looked on with a face of indifference, and the Aburame Clan head just remained silent, while Homura, Koharu, the Haruno Clan head, and the remaining civilian members were all visibly upset. What didn't surprise Tsunade was Danzou's reaction to the news, he just sat there completely unaffected by it, as if he already knew what Tsunade was going to say.

That's when one of the civilian council members decided to say "If what Tsunade-sama said is true than we must exicute the demon now, before it has a chance to free itself and destroy us all!"

Kushina suddenly appeared behind this member and put a kunai to his throat before she said "If you so much as think that again, you won't live to see the sun rise again. GOT IT!"

Sarutobi appeared beside Kushina and grabbed a hold of her wrist and said " "Enough! Threats like that will not be tolerated, release him right now, or I'll summon a contingent of ANBU to place you under arrest."

"You're lucky the Hokage was here, he just saved your life." said Kushina as she pulled away and once Sarutobi released her wrist she put the kunai away and then went to stand beside Tsunade once more.

"This is all besides the point anyway. This kid isn't even a Genin, so he is ineligible for the exams." said Danzou as he got a look of supiority on his face.

Kushina just looked straight at him and yelled "It doesn't matter that he isn't a shinobi of this village, because you have no say if another village chooses him as their representative!"

This shocked the council yet again and Tsume looked at Tsunade and asked "Is this true Tsunade-sama, is Naruto really going to represent another village in the exams?"

Tsunade got a serious look on her face as she said "Yes he is, and I'm going to be that teams Sensei."

"That's not even possible, for you see Naruto is a citizen of Konoha." said Danzou.

"That's out reargues, first you village wants nothing to do with him, and now your telling us what other villages can and can't do in regards to who they chose as their representatives! Konoha has fallen a long way since the time of the Yondaime." said Kushina as got a look of hatred in her eyes.

'_Good she's almost there, just one more push should do it.'_ thought Danzou as he said "HOW dare you speak to us in that manner, you low life trash! Just who do you think you are?"

"Who do I think I am? I'm the one who asked Naruto-kun to represent us in the Chunin Exams, I'm leader of Kumorigakure no sato, but more importantly than that, I'm the one who brought him into this world! I'm his mother, KUSHINA UZUMAKI NAMIKAZE!!" shouted Kushina as she ripped off her mask to reveal her face.

'_Perfect.'_ "Than you admit that you have abandoned your home in Konoha and are now working for a new village. I say you are a traitor, and should be marked a missing nin and executed immediately!" said Danzou to the stunned Council.

"Hold it right there Danzou! You have no authority over such a matter, never forget that the council only has jurisdiction over the daily life of the calns that live in the village, all matters involving village security are the jurisdiction of the Hokage." said Sarutobi as he thought _'What have I allowed to happen? Homura and Koharu both told me that Kushina was dead, so I took it at face value, and didn't even look into it. Now I find out that she's really alive. If they lied about that, then what else have they lied about?' _

Danzou silently seethes and then he said "Then what is your decision Hokage-sama."

"Since Kushina, has already been declared dead by the council, she is no longer bound to our laws. So she will not be marked in the Bingo Book. Is that clear?" order Sarutobi with a gaze that indicated that he would tolerate no insubordination on this issue.

'_Damn you Sarutobi! You always were to soft hearted, but maybe I can use this to my advantage.'_ thought Danzou as he remained calm and said "Very well Hokage-sama, but that still doesn't change the fact that Naruto is a Konoha citizen."

"That also became null and void, when the council declared him dead as well, so he can do as he pleases." said Sarutobi as a smile formed on his face while he looked a Tsunade.

'_Damn you Sarutobi!' _"Very well, I'll concede on that point, but that still doesn't change the fact, that Naruto still has no team to compete." said Danzou as he glared at Sarutobi.

"Yes he does, one member is already here, and the other one will arrive with the other applicants from Kumori." said Tsunade as she got a serious look on her face while she thought _'That damn Danzou! He tricked Kushina into revealing herself, and that stunt he pulled with the Uchiha charges, it wouldn't surprise me, if he had ordered his 'Ne' to leave any incriminating evidence, linking him the attack on Naru-Chan, behind, so he couldn't be implicated. He will probably just say that they were acting on their own, and that he wasn't responsible.'_

Tsunade's eyes widened as she suddenly realized something _'If I bring up the attack now, I know he'll deny it, and then probably want us to have bodyguards to prevent it from happening again, and someone looking over my shoulder, is something I can't afford to have right now. So, I going to have to keep quiet about this, at least for the time being.'_

"Well then, I guess that means his teams already disqualified. Did you forget Tsunade-sama, that a foreign team must all arrive at once, or they won't be allowed to take the exam." said Danzou as the smile never left his face.

The moment Danzou finished saying this Sarutobi looked at him with a harsh but curious gaze while he thought _'What are you planning Danzou?'_

Tsume and Inoichi both protest and then Tsume said "You have no right to go about making a decision like that by yourself Danzou that call must be made by the committee."

"Than I guess it's a good thing I'm on the Committee than isn't it, but, seeing as how he's your adopted son Tsunade-sama, we'll make an exception this time. We'll allow him to take the exam, but he's only allowed to have the one team member that arrived with him, and no one else."

"What! That's ridiculous, in the entire history of the exams their has never been a two man cell before, it's been ruled to dangerous!" shouted Kushina.

"And besides, that also must be the call of the committee, not just one of it's members!" shouted Tsunade as she gave Danzou a death glare.

Danzou looked at Tsunade with a superior look on his face before he said "So we'll put it to a vote. We already know my opinion, and what Hokage-sama will say, so that just leaves Homura-san, and Koharu-san, so how will you vote."

Needless to say that they both sided with Danzou which left Naruto one team member short when he takes the exams. Tsunade then looked defiantly at Danzou before she said "You can't expect me to just except this! Sarutobi-sensei surely theirs something you can do in this matter?"

Sarutobi just lowered his hat in shame and said "I'm sorry Tsunade, but I can't overrule the committee on this matter, so Naruto will have to take the exams one team member short."

"Fine, have it you're way." said Tsuande just looked at the council in disgust before she walked over to the two double doors. When she reached the she slammed her fist into the doors completely knocking them off their hinges.

Zabuza eyes widened a little bit when he saw what Tsuande had just done and then said out loud "I'm glad that I'm on her side."

Kushina just looked at Danzou and spat at his feet before she and the others made their way over to Tsunade.

When they reached her they kept on walking and went through the busted doors, and as Tsunade herself was about to leave, she turned to the council and said "You fools will soon realize, what a mistake it was to let such a promising shinobi like Naruto slip through your fingers."

After Tsunade left Sarutobi just looked at the demolished doors and said "I fear we've lost another one of The Legendary Sannin. I just pray, that your actions didn't cause us to lose the last one."

(On the streets of Konoha)

Naruto, Haku, and Shizune walked down the street heading toward Ichiraku Ramen stand, when they heard a commotion, and then the heard a child yell "HEY! Let me go you big ape!"

Naruto decided to go and investigate, and as he and the others turned the corner, Naruto saw a shinobi in what appeared to be a black cat suit, wearing some kind of makeup, with a female konouchi with blonde hair tied into four pigtails. He then heard someone say "I-I'm sorry, it was my fault, I was fooling around…"

'_Wait a minute, I know that voice.'_ thought Naruto as he quickly looked in the direction that the voice came from only to see "Sakura."

The cat suited shinobi completely ignored Sakura's plea and said "Calm down brat, I just want to play with you a little…, while we wait for that nuisance to show up."

The blonde haired konouchi just placed her hands on her hips and said "Knock it off Kankuro. You know we're going to get it as it is, so just let the little twerp go."

"Relax Temari, I'm just killing some time until he shows up." said Kankuro as he looked over at Temari.

Temari just shrugged her shoulders and said "Whatever, I will not take responsibility for this."

Kankuro got a smile on his face and then turned back to the little kid he's holding. As he raises his fist to strike he said "Maybe next time you'll learn to respect your elders."

Kankuro's fist was just mere inches away from the kids face when Naruto appeared and grabbed his wrist with his right hand, stopping the attack. Naruto looked Kankuro in the eyes as he said "You know, I may not be a big fan of Konoha, but I just can't stand by and do nothing, while a bully picks on a little kid."

Kankuro had a stunned look on his face for a few seconds before it turned into a smirk and he said "You talk pretty tough, but you just caught me off guard is all, once I'm done with the shrimp here, I'll deal with you."

Naruto just tightened his grip on Kankuro's wrist, which caused Kankuro to drop the child, who ran over behind Shizune, and drop to one knee while Naruto said "Maybe you weren't listening to me, so I'll say it again, I don't like it when I see a bully picking on other people. So I'll give you this one chance to leave peacefully. Will you take it or not?"

Kankuro winces in pain and tries to pull his arm free as he said "Hey Temari! How about a little help here?"

"Huh, sorry Kankuro, but I'm kind of busy right now." said a nervous Temari.

"Wha…" said Kankuro as he turned his head only to see that Haku was behind Temari, holding he on hand that had gone up to grab her fan, while the other one hand a senbon pointed at Temari's neck.

Haku's gaze never left Temari as she said "I think you should take Naruto-kun's advice, and just walk away, you are at a serious disadvantage right know."

"Now, Now guys, remember what Tsunade-sama said, we're suppose to stay out of trouble, and you two fighting these foreign shinobi, would definitely cause trouble, and I don't want to have to tell Tsunade-sama that you sent these two to the hospital." said Shizune as she tried to diffuse the situation.

Before Naruto could say anything he snapped his head toward a tree that was behind Sakura and the kids, and used his free hand to catch a rock which had been thrown at his head. Naruto just lowered his hand and narrowed his eyes at the figure in the tree as he said "It's been a long time Sasuke-teme."

Sasuke jumped down from the tree and landed in front of Sakura before he said "What the hell are you doing here, you loser?"

Naruto didn't answer however as his gaze never left the tree, he then tossed the rock up in the air and caught it again before he threw it at the tree and said "I know you're there, so you might as well come out."

As the rock reached the tree a wall of sand appeared and stopped the moving projectile, when the sand died down it revealed a read headed boy with a gourd on his back. The boy just looked straight a Kankuro and said "Kankuro, you're a disgrace to our village."

Kankuro and Temari got a look of absolute horror on their faces as Kankuro said "G-Gaara."

The sand swirled around Gaara as he moved from the tree to the ground beside Kankuro and Naruto. Kankuro then looked at Gaara and said "Come on Gaara, why don't you help us out?"

Gaara just glared at Kankuro and said "It annoys me that you were caught off guard so easily, it makes me wonder why they sent you here."

"B-But Gaara! They started it, that little brat ran into me, and than this guy butted in!" said Kankuro in his defense.

"Shut-up…, or I'll kill you myself." said Gaara as he shifted his gaze to Naruto and then continued "Sorry about my friend, now if you'll release them we'll be on our way."

Naruto gave Haku a slight nod and they both released their captives. As Gaara and the others turned to leave, Sasuke who had been silently seething for being ignored for so long finally said "Hey you there, state your name, and your reason for being here?"

Gaara turned to face Sasuke and after a moment silence he said "Gaara of the desert, and were here for the Chunin Exams." He then shifts his gaze over to Naruto and said "And you are?"

Naruto just gets a smile on his face and said "Names Naruto."

Not to be out done by Naruto, Sasuke got a smirk on his face and pointed at himself as he said "I'm Sasuke Uchiha."

Gaara just stared at him for a moment before he turned around, and as he walked away he said "Kankuro, Temari, lets go."

After the Suna shinobi left Sasuke just gave Naruto a death glare and stormed off. Sakura got a pissed off look on her face as she yelled "YOU JERK! How dare you embarrass Sasuke-kun like that!"

Sakura the quickly ran after Sasuke as she yelled "Wait up Sasuke-kun!"

Naruto just shook his head and then looked over at Haku before he said "I see they haven't changed one bit, and by the way, how am I responsible for that bastard's humiliation?"

"Who knows Naruto-kun, who knows." said Haku as she just shrugged her shoulders.

As Naruto and Haku had their discussion, Shizune knelt down and checked the boy for any injuries, when she found none she let out a sigh of relief and said "It looks like you're ok, but you should be more careful in the future."

"Shizune-neechan's right kid, you really got to be more careful, because the next time that happens, we won't be around to help you." said Naruto as he walked up to Shizune and the kid.

The eleven year old boy just shook with rage until he shouted "I'M NOT A KID! My names Konohamaru, and I'm the grandson of the Hokage. So, you better show me some respect, because I'm also going to be The Hokage one day."

Naruto just got a far off look on his face as he said "Huh? I wonder if I'd be acting like that, if my father had survived."

He then turned around and jumped onto a nearby rooftop, leaving a stunned Konohamaru, and a worried Haku and Shizune. Once Naruto was on the rooftop he started at the Hokage Monument and settled on the face of the Yondaime before he thought _'Minato Namikaze, I still can't believe you're my father. I can kind of understand why you'd be willing to sacrifice your own life for those you love, but to curse your own son in the process, I don't know if I could ever do such a thing.'_

Naruto's thought were interrupted when Kyuubi said "**Hey kit, I've been meaning to ask you, what do you think of Kushina-san and Minato?**"

Naruto remained quite for quite awhile be fore he answered _'… Honestly…, I don't really know, all I know about Minato aside from the fact that he's my father, is what I've read in text books, and based on my experiences with you, I've learned not to believe everything you read. And as for Kushina, she seems to genuinely feel regret about leaving me to the mercy of the village, but everything I said to her when we first met, still lingers in my mind, so a part of me really hates both of them for what the did to me, while another part…'_

Kyuubi got an understanding look on her face as she said **"I understand kit, you really don't know what to feel right know, do you?"**

'_No, I don't.'_

"**But tell me, do you think you'll ever be able to forgive them, like you've forgiven me?"**

Naruto closed his eyes and let out a deep sigh _'I don't know Baa-Chan, I just don't know.'_

Next Chapter: Naruto's Difficult Decision! Forgiveness or Hatred?

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Author's Note: Well I hope you liked it, now I know I said I'd be starting the Chunin Exams but I felt like I needed to set up some stuff as well as have Naruto start to deal with his resentment towards Kushina. So I'm going to try to start the exams by the end of the next Chapter, hope to see you all there.

Now as for the poll on Naruto's Third known element, here are the current standings.

Lightening 28

Earth 14

Fire 13

Metal 9

Darkness 5

Now as promised heres the teaser:

When the figure started to leave Danzou decided to see if he would be able to deal with his problem, so he said "I should let you know, the Kyuubi vessel is still alive."

The figure stopped and as he continued to look forward he said "We were already aware of that." He then took a couple more steps before he stopped again and said "Oh, and by the way…"

As soon as the figure said this Danzou found a kunai pressed against his neck as a clone of the figure appeared behind him, and then the clone finished the sentence "Did you really think that we wouldn't discover your treachery regarding the Kyuubi container?"

The figure then pressed the kunai even harder against Danzou's neck as he the same emotionless voice continued "You're just luck that the leader still finds you useful, so you'll just get a warning this time, but betray us again, and you won't have time to regret it. Understand?"

Danzou just nodded his head as the clone turned into many crows, and as he brought his hand up to his neck he heard the figure say "Leave Naruto-kun alone, we'll deal with him."

Danzou the looked around the room and saw no sign of the figure. Danzou then took his hand off of his neck and brought it in front of his face, after he stared at it for a little while he clenched his fist and thought _'DAMN YOU ITACHI! Once I find what I'm looking for, not even the Akatsuki Leader will stand a chance against my 'Ne'.'_


	15. Chapter 15 Naruto’s difficult decision!

"Speech"

'_Thoughts'_

**Demon/Summon/inner Sakura speech**

_**Demon/Summon thoughts**_

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or any of the characters created by Kishimoto, but all OC's are my own creation.

Narutomaniac: I want to thank you again for giving me your input on the revision it was greatly appreciated, and as for you question about his skill level, yes he is about mid Jonin without Kyuubi's Chakra.

Dragon Noir: Sorry about that, I hope you like the revision I did, also after the events of this chapter, Naruto himself will be called before the council, and I promise you that one will be explosive.

F-14 Tomcat Lover: Unfortunately no, Those ANBU were ordered to leave anything behind that might implicate their leader before they left. (I added a little of that in the revision, thanks for bringing that to my attention)

Authors Note: Sorry about the late update but I ended up reworking a couple of scenes until I was happy with them. Well I got some mixed reviews about the last chapter, and after rereading it I see I didn't write the council meeting to well, so I went back and redid the meeting so I hope you like it. Anyway I want to tell you that the Chunin Exams won't be happening until the next Chapter, The events that play out in this chapter were too long to add the first part of the Chunin exams. I also want to say that we only saw the council's nice reaction to Tsunade's news, not the entire villages (Which we'll see in this chapter as well), also as I said in an above reply, Naruto himself will be called before the council and that meeting will not go as pleasantly as Tsunade's did. Oh yeah I also changed the name of this chapter a little bit I just think that this one sounds better, but enough of my rambling.

On with the Story

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Chapter 15: Naruto's difficult decision! Forgiveness or Hatred?

Danzou stormed into his little sanctuary and said "Damn you Tsunade! Why didn't you tell them about the assassination attempt on that brat? Since I made sure none of them had any damning evidence against me, I was planning to use that incident to have you under constant surveillance."

His eyes then widened in realization before he said "No way! There's no way, you could have anticipated my move, and deliberately kept that information to yourself. If you did Tsunade, than you're a far more devious than I gave you credit for."

Just then a figure wearing a cloak cover in red clouds and a straw hat on his head that came down to completely cover his face, appeared and in an emotionless voice said "So, Tsunade has indeed come back to Konoha. Will this have any affect on our plans?"

Danzou took a few deep breaths to calm himself down before he said "No, everything is still going according to plan."

"Good, make sure you keep it that way." said the emotionless figure as he turned to leave.

When the figure started to leave Danzou decided to see if he would be able to deal with his problem, so he said "I should let you know, the Kyuubi vessel is still alive."

The figure stopped and as he continued to look forward he said "We were already aware of that." He then took a couple of steps before he stopped again and said "Oh, and by the way…"

As soon as the figure said this Danzou found a kunai pressed against his neck as a clone of the figure appeared behind him, and then the clone finished the sentence "Did you really think that we wouldn't discover your treachery regarding the Kyuubi container?"

The figure then pressed the kunai even harder against Danzou's neck as he the same emotionless voice continued "You're just lucky that the leader still finds you useful, so you'll just get a warning this time, but betray us again, and you won't have time to regret it. Understand?"

Danzou just nodded his head as the clone turned into many crows, and as he brought his hand up to his neck he heard the figure say "Leave Naruto-kun alone, we'll deal with him."

Danzou the looked around the room and saw no sign of the figure. Danzou then took his hand off of his neck and brought it in front of his face; after he stared at it for a little while he clenched his fist and thought _'DAMN YOU ITACHI! Once I find what I'm looking for, not even the Akatsuki Leader will stand a chance against my 'Ne'.'_

After the council meeting, word quickly spread throughout the village of Tsunade's return as well as the demon brat's survival. While the people were happy to have one of the Sannin return home, they were less than enthused about Naruto's, they even went to the trouble of organizing a protest group and then went to go see the Hokage, and demanded that the demon child be put to death. Needless to say the Hokage refused their request, and then reminded them that the law regarding Naruto was still in effect, and he would make sure that the penalty would be enforced, should it be broken.

This completely stunned the civilian populous, and since the Hokage wouldn't take any legal action to help them, they went back to treating him like a piece of trash, and once again started to refuse him service. This act soon caused an incident in which Tsunade ended up completely demolishing a table, when the waiter said that this place did not cater to 'his kind'. This soon caused rumors to spread that the demon had somehow bewitched their beloved Sannin.

Now just four days after his arrival we find Naruto on his way to go meet Anko, and see

how Hinata's training was going. As Naruto walked down the street he noticed all the hateful stares, and then let out a deep sigh as he thought _'I really hate it here, it took these people less than a day to start treating me like they use to. You'd think that they would have forgotten about me by now.'_

"**Remember kit, a hatred that ran as deep as theirs isn't easily forgotten, but look at the bright side, at least now we know that not everyone on the council is against you.**"

'_That's not much of a bright side, I mean sure Kaasan told me that at least two of them appeared to be on my side, and another three to four acted indifferently when they heard the news, but that still leaves at least seven of them that either want me imprisoned, or worse dead. Not a very promising situation in my opinion, the only reason they haven't tried anything is because, I'm here representing another village, and as long as I don't cause any trouble, they can't touch me.'_

As soon as Naruto finished those thoughts he tilted his head to the left to avoid a rock that had been thrown his way. When Naruto looked in the direction of the rocks origin he saw a middle aged man standing there with a look of pure hatred in his eyes. The man just narrowed his eyes and shouted "Why don't you just go back to hell were you belong!"

Naruto just shook his head and continued on his way as he thought _'I can't wait till this exam is over, and I get to leave this place.'_

As Naruto was about to turn a corner he suddenly heard a loud scream coming form the direction of the bathhouse. Naruto just shook his head as he thought _'Ero-sennin, what trouble have you gotten yourself into this time?'_

That's when he saw a pink haired Sasuke in nothing but his underwear, skid a couple of inches as he ran around the corner and then went as fast as he could while he discarded a piece of rope that was hanging on his arm.

Naruto just stood there in shock as Sasuke ran right past him, that's when Naruto heard a noise coming his way and turned his head just in time to see a horde of fan girls lead by Sakura, who shouted "Oh Sasuke-kun! I new you liked me!" come around the corner.

He was just barely able to jump out of the way and land on a nearby rooftop as the horde came barreling through. As the dust settled Naruto just stared in the direction that they went, and after he blinked a couple of time he started to laugh.

Once Naruto had calmed down he said "Man, I needed that. I'm going to have to get the whole story from Anko-neechan, when I see her."

A short time later Naruto made it to the wooded area that Anko said she would be at when suddenly a kunai landed at Naruto's feet. He picked it up and then looked up into the trees, that's when he saw Hinata barely dodge a kunai that came flying at her; this dodge caused her to land on the ground a few feet away from Naruto.

Before she could even completely stand up Anko appeared behind her and throw her back up into the trees as she said "Didn't I tell you, that you couldn't touch the ground!"

"I-I'm s-sorry A-Anko-sensei." said a meek Hinata as she grabbed onto a tree branch and pulled herself up. The moment that Hinata straightens herself Anko throws three more kunai at her. She is able to dodge one of them but the second one ripped right through her coat and the third one nicked her cheek.

Naruto winces when he sees Anko appeared in front of Hinata and deliver a solid punch to her stomach. _'Man Anko-neechan, I know you've been training her for three day and all, but do you have to be so vicious?'_

"**Kit, she just trying to help her, I mean after all, she used this training method with you, and look how good you turned out."**

'_That's different Baa-Chan, I didn't have the mental problems that Hinata has.'_

Just as Naruto finished that thought Hinata lands on her back in front of him breathing heavily. A few seconds later Anko also lands on the ground and said "Not bad, you've at least gotten better since yesterday, but you still need to work your speed."

"Hey Anko-neechan, I ran across Sasuke on my way here, and I got to say, the pink hair was a nice touch." said a smiling Naruto as he took the lull in the training to make his presence known.

Anko then looked up and noticed Naruto she got a smile on her face as she said "Hey Gaki! You liked that, huh? Just wait and see what else I got planned for him, heh, heh, heh. Anyway, I see you've got yourself a shadow." She then pointed to Konohamaru, who was hiding behind a tree.

Naruto just lowered his head and let out a sigh before he said "Yeah I know, he's been following me around, even since I saved him from the group from Suna. I don't know what I'm suppose to do, and it's really starting to irritate me. But enough about him, do you think we could talk in private?"

When Anko looked into his eyes she knew what he wanted to talk about so she just nodded her head and the turned to Hinata and said "We're going to take a short break, so rest up and be ready for when I get back."

Hinata just nodded her head because she was too tired to say anything. After Anko said this she and Naruto jumped up into the trees, and once they were high enough sat down on a branch.

"Let me guess gaki, you want to know more about Kushina don't you?" asked Anko

"Yeah, with Kaasan and Kushina both on their way to see the old man, and I figured this would be the perfect time to learn about her from someone I can trust." said Naruto.

After a few seconds of silence Anko finally said "Fine gaki, I'll tell you what you want to know, but you're going to treat me for dango later, deal?"

Naruto made a gulping sound for he knew that Anko loved dango as much as he loved ramen, so after careful consideration he knew he had no other choice so he said "This is going to put a major dent in my finances, but I've got to know. You've got a deal Anko-neechan."

Anko got a smile on her face when she thought about all that lovely dango she was going to have later, and after a few seconds of daydreaming Naruto brought her out of it, by jabbing her in the arm, and then she said "Alright, what do you want to know?"

"First off, was she always the way she is now, or is she just putting on an act, so that I'll trust her?" asked Naruto.

"It's not an act, even when I was a kid, she was always like this, in fact after my mother was killed, she practically became a second mother to me."

Naruto just tilted his head back as he said "I see, but that still doesn't explain why she didn't know about you Anko. Didn't she say that she had contacts in the village?"

Anko thought about it for a little bit before she said "That bothered me too, but they might not have know that I was the Yondaime's daughter, and on top of that, they probably weren't ordered to find out if I was alive. You see, not too long after his death, the council stripped me of my right to use his clan name, at the time they said it was for my own protection. Later on, when I got older, they told me that I could never take his clan name. When I protested this, they told me that since I was the last of the clan, and under suspicion of treason after Orochimaru's defection from the village, they had the power to revoke my clan status, as well as keep all the clan's jutsu locked up under the Hokage's protection."

"That explains why Kaasan and Kushina are going to talk to the old man." said Naruto, and when he noticed Anko's confusion he added "A couple of days ago, Kushina took me to the clan compound, only to find out that they have fenced it off, and turned it into some kind of training ground. Not only that, but all the clan belongings have been removed from the complex, needless to say, Kushina was really pissed. Oh, it looks like Hinata has recovered." said Naruto as he looked down to see that Hinata had gotten back to her feet.

When Anko saw this she simply rubbed her hands together and said "Well looks like the break is over, time to get back to the torture… er, training."

Naruto just shook his head before he said "Go easy on her Anko-neechan, don't forget that she has low self-esteem."

"Hey! I am going easy on her, I've only been using kunai as projectiles. Don't you remember, I was using explosive tags by this time with you." said a defensive Anko.

A small shiver ran down Nauto's back as he remembered those training sessions, he then said "I remember, but I also remember when Kaasan found out about that, it took both Shizune-neechan and myself to save you from her wrath."

Anko brought her right hand up to her left shoulder and stood up before she said "I remember, my shoulder hurt for a full month after she got a hold of me. Anyway I have to get back to the training, so you'll have to take me to the dango shop later."

"That's fine, I have to get going as well, I have to meet up with Haku-Chan and Zabuza-sensei, so I can continue my sword training." said Naruto as he watched Anko jump down to the ground before he himself took off to find Zabuza and Haku.

Tsunade and Kushina were on there way toward The Hokage Tower, when Kushina looked over at Tsunade and asked "Tsunade-sama, back when we met with the council, why didn't you tell them about the incident back in Tanzuku Town?"

"Isn't it obvious? After the way the Danzou reacted when we told him about Sasuke's attempted murder of Naru-Chan, and then the way he tricked you into revealing who you were. He'd probably deny any involvement in it and claim that they acted on their own, and then he'd probably want us to be under constant surveillance so that it wouldn't happen again, and if that happened, we'd never figure out what's going on. Speaking of which, how's Shadow's end coming along?" said Tsunade as she kept her voice down so that no one else could hear her.

Kushina discreetly looked around to make sure nobody was listening in before she said "His progress has been slow, he has managed to get in touch with my contacts, but none of them have any new information we can use. It's going to take him some more time before he gets any useful information."

Tsunade and Kushina both quieted down as they passed a couple of Konoha Shinobi, and once they were out of ear shot Tsunade said "I hope he finds something soon, The Chunin Exams are due to start in just three more days, at which point I'll be expected to wait with the other team sensei's, until they have completed the first two parts of the exam, so, it will be up to you and Jiraiya then."

"I know Tsunade-sama, we will get to the bottom of this, and when we do, we can take Naruto-kun away from this place, so he never has to feel hated again. " said a determined Kushina.

'_Well Kushina, I'm starting to think, that you just want to be a part of our family after all.'_ thought Tsunade as a smile formed on her face. After that they ended their conversation until they reached The Hokage Tower.

(Hokage Tower- Hokage's Office)

Sarutobi was at his desk working on this morning's paperwork, when he heard a knock at the door before his Chunin secretary, popped her head in before she said "Hokage-sama, Tsunade-sama and Kushina-san are here, and they would like a moment of your time."

"Very well, send them in." said Sarutobi as he brought his hands up to his chin and wondered what those two could want.

As Tsunade and Kushina took their seats in front of the Hokage's desk and waited for the Chunin to leave before Kushina got a serious look on her face and said "Sarutobi, I'd like to get back the clan scrolls that were taken from the Namikaze compound."

Sarutobi let out a sigh before he said "I figured as much, and I'll give you what we were able to salvage, from the jutsu vault."

This caught both of them off guard and then Tsunade asked "Salvage?"

"Yes salvage, about eleven years ago, when the council barred Anko from taking back her clan name, I went with some of my most trusted shinobi to retrieve what was in the vault, only to discover that someone had broken into it and taken a few items, among them were some Fuujin technique scrolls, a couple of those special three pronged Kunai, and some other assorted items ranging from simple jutsu scrolls to pieces of equipment, but the worst part of it, is that the scroll containing Hiraishin no Jutsu (Flying Thunder God Technique) was taken as well. I spent all these years trying to find out who did it, at first I thought it was Anko, but after an extensive investigation, we discovered that the seals protecting the vault, were completely destroyed, and not simply deactivated. Meaning that it wasn't Anko, but whoever did this hade to be extremely skilled." said Sarutobi in a grave voice.

"Well then, I guess it's a good thing that Minato-kun left a fake in that vault after all." said Kushina as a smile appeared on her face.

Sarutobi got a curious look on his face before he said "Fake? Are you trying to tell me that The Yondaime's special Jutsu wasn't taken after all?"

Kushina looked Sarutobi straight in the face as she said "Oh no, it was taken, I took it from here the night that I left, so it's safely locked away. Minato-kun intended to teach his children that jutsu one day when they gained enough skill, but after I was told of their deaths, and the subsequent attack on my life I figured that it would be best if I took it with me."

"So you're telling me that the ones who broke into the vault only got a fake and you have the original?" asked Sarutobi as he breathed a sigh of relief when he saw her nod.

"Yes, all they got was the very early writings, and ideas on what the jutsu could do, so it's practically worthless." conformed Kushina.

"That's good to know, and don't worry I'll have all the scrolls transferred to your place of residence by the end of the day." said Sarutobi.

It was at this point that Tsunade decided to bring something to Sarutobi's attention, so she said "Sarutobi-sensei, there's something you should know, but before I tell you, you have to promise me that you'll keep it from the council until I can prove it, ok?"

Curiosity got the best of Sarutobi so he nodded his head in agreement, and that's when Tsunade continued with "Before we left to come here, we were attacked by a group of 'Ne' ANBU. We believe, that they were ordered by Danzou to kill Naruto, for a yet unknown reason."

"I see." said Sarutobi as he leaned back in his chair and took up a thinking position. _'Now I understand why he was so adamant about Naruto taking the Chunin Exams, with only one teammate.' _ "If your suspicions are correct, then Danzou will most likely make another attempt during the Exams, considering it's quite common for deaths to occur. So if there is anything I can do to help, just let me know."

"Thanks sensei, but I don't think that would be a good idea. You may have spy in your midst, how else could Danzou, have known about Naru-Chan's survival, and then track us down to Tanzuku Town at the same time, that you sent Jiraiya and Anko-san to get us." said Tsunade as she contemplated what to do next.

Kushina just looked Sarutobi in the eyes before she added "Tsunade-sama's right, if you start to poke around it might alert Danzou, and then he'll make things difficult for us. So it's for the best, if you just sit back, and let us look into this."

Sarutobi just sat there for a moment and thought over the matter and when he came to a decision he said "Very well, I'll let you handle the investigation, and when you find some evidence that links Danzou behind this assassination, bring it to me immediately, and I'll make sure that he is punished to the full extent of the law."

"Why are you so willing to help Naruto-kun now? Why stick you neck out for the boy this village abandoned?" asked a very serious Kushina.

After he let a deep sigh and with a sad look on his face Sarutobi said "I'm just correcting a mistake that I made a long time ago."

Kushina looked into Sarutobi's eyes and sees the sincerity in them, so she just nodded her head and said "Alright, we'll trust you for now, but if you do anything to destroy that trust…"

"I understand. You'll do what you deem necessary to protect those you care for. It's a shame that you didn't stay in the village Kushina, you would have made a fine Hokage." said Sarutobi as he leaned forward and rested his chin on the back of his hands.

Kushina remained silent and just nodded her head, as she and Tsunade stood up and said their goodbyes before they left. After the doors had closed behind the two Sarutobi once again leaned back in his chair and thought _'Danzou…, what are you really after?'_

(Back with Naruto)

As Naruto walked down another street that lead back to Tsunade's clan house, he noticed that he was still being followed by Konohamaru. So he let out a deep sigh, came to a complete stop turned around and looked at the badly camouflaged Konohamaru before he said "This is really irritating, you've been following for the past three days, and I want to know why?"

Konohamaru didn't respond at all and just remained behind his camouflage

A confused Naruto just looked at the camouflaged Konohamaru and said "You do realize, that I know there, right?"

That's when Konohamaru lowered his disguise he pointed at Naruto and said "You're pretty good to see through my disguise. So, it wasn't a fluke, when you saved me from those bullies the other day."

Naruto just looked at Konohamaru like he was a little crazy, before he took a deep breath and said "Look kid, I'll say it again, why are you following me?"

Konohamaru completely ignored Naruto's question and said "Alright I've decided! Teach me your skills. I'll become your apprentice."

"Huh?" was all a confused Naruto could say.

Before Naruto could say anything else Konohamaru shouted "You've got to teach me how you where able to injure that guys wrist with just one hand."

"No way kid, that technique is to dangerous, for someone with your control level, and besides it's kind of become a family technique." said Naruto.

"Oh come on! You've got to teach me something! Otherwise how will I become the next Hokage!?" shouted Konohamaru as he got into Naruto's face.

Naruto's eyes widened for a split second when he heard Konohamaru mention his old dream again. His eyes then narrowed slightly as he said "Look kid, no means no, so if that's all, I'll see you around." Naruto then waved his hand at Konohamaru while he turned around and started to walk down the street.

"Wait!"

This caused Naruto to stop once again, he then looked over his shoulder and said "What?"

Konohamaru lowered his head and in a low voice said "If you're not going to train me, than can you at least tell me, what you meant when you said, 'I wonder if I'd be acting like that, if my father had survived'?"

"That's none of your business." said a defensive Naruto as he started to walk away.

Konohamaru ran in front of him and said "Come on, you've got to tell me. Was your father the Kage of another village? Since your father didn't survive, where you raised by someone who trained you right? Was he HMMMPPHH…"

Naruto put his hand over Konohamaru's mouth as he leaned in and said "Look, I really don't want to talk about it. So, why don't you just drop it."

Just as Naruto had finished this statement he heard a voice say "Ah! There you are Naruto-kun, we've been looking all over the place for you."

Naruto looked up to see Haku and Zabuza walking up to him, and when they got within a few feet Zabuza said "Let's go, you're late for your training."

"Hai, Zabuza-sensei." said Naruto as he took his hand off of Konohamaru's mouth and then added "Sorry kid, but I've got to get going, so take care of yourself ok."

"Oh no you don't! I'm sticking to you like glue, until you tell me what I want to know."

When Naruto saw the same look of determination in Konohamaru's eyes that he would see every morning when he looked into a mirror, he came to a decision and said "Do whatever you like Konohamaru, but don't get your hopes up, I don't plan on telling you anything."

A smile appeared on Konohamaru's face when he heard Naruto call him by his name. After he recovered from this shock he said "That's where you're wrong boss! I plan on getting you to tell me everything you know."

"Boss?" said Naruto in a curious voice before he just shook his head while he waved his hand in a following motion before he continued with "Whatever, come on lets get going, I want to show Zabuza-sensei a couple of new tricks I've come up with."

As everyone headed to their designated training ground, Haku just smiled when she saw the hero worship in Konohamaru's eyes. _'Hah, he only meet Naruto-kun a few days ago, and without knowing anything about him, Konohamaru already wants to become his friend, It's a shame that the rest of Konoha, can't see what kind of person Naruto-kun really is.'_

(Several minutes later at the training field)

Naruto and Zabuza had been going at it for a little while when Naruto just barely managed to dodge a sword strike that was aimed at his head. He quickly counter with a quick upward slash to the head which Zabuza easily dodged, but the moment Naruto finished the upward motion, he did a quick slash downwards barely missing Zabuza's face.

As Zabuza moved away from Naruto his eyes widened in shock when he say a cut appear on his cheek. His eyes quickly looked at the kodachi, that's when he noticed that the wind around the edge of the blade was in a hooked pattern before it moved back into a straight extension of the blade. A slight smile appeared underneath his mask as he said "Not bad brat, I must say that you surprised me with your wind manipulation there."

A smile appeared on Naruto's face as he said "You like that huh? Just wait until you see what else I've got up my sleeve."

"Then show me." said Zabuza as he tightened his grip on his sword and charged Naruto.

While Zabuza trained Naruto, Haku and Konohamaru watched from the sidelines. A few minutes into the spar Konohamaru turned to Haku and asked "Hey lady, you know the boss pretty well, right? So could you tell me, what he meant when he said 'I wonder if I'd be acting like that, if my father had survived'?"

Haku sat there for a moment before she said "Naruto-kun wouldn't tell you would he?"

Konohamaru just nodded his head in conformation, and that's when Haku let out a breath before she said "Fine, I'll tell you a little about it, but to get the full story you'll have to talk to Naruto-kun." After Konohamaru gave another nod she continued "Very well lets begin, as you may have noticed this village doesn't like Naruto-kun very much, in fact most of them down right hate him, but what most of them don't know, is that his father was a very famous shinobi from this village, but when Naruto-kun was born something happened, and because of what his father did, he was revered as a hero, while Naruto-kun was greeted with hatred. So, it's understandable that he has mixed feelings when it comes to his father, and sometimes he wonders if things would have been different if his father had lived."

A sad expression crossed Konohamaru's face as he said "It must have been hard for him, living with all that hatred."

"Yes it was, but Naruto-kun persevered thru it, and found people who care about him deeply." said Haku when Naruto suddenly landed in front of them.

After he got to his feet Naruto shook his head a few times while he brought his hand up to his head before he said "Ow! Hey! I thought you said no blows to the head!"

"Fool, the only rule on the battlefield is, that there are no rules." said Zabuza as he readied himself for Naruto's counterattack.

"Fine! If that's how you want to play it, then here I come!" shouted Naruto as he tightened his grip on his Kodachi and charged Zabuza.

Zabuza blocked Naruto's strike and countered with his own, which Naruto managed to block and then countered with a spinning heel kick aimed directly at Zabuza's head. Zabuza ducked at the last second and rolled out of the way to get some distance, so it would be to his advantage, while a smile once again appeared behind his mask as he thought _'Damn, this kid's gotten better, he's actually become a challenge.'_

As Naruto launched his next assault, he got a familiar feeling of dread which caused him to stop in his tracks, he then said "Hang on Zabuza-sensei, we're being watched."

He then turned and looked behind Haku and Konohamaru and said "Alright, I know that you're there Sasuke-teme, so you might as well come out."

"So, I see the report was true after all. It seems that your childhood experiences, have given you the ability to sense the Sharingan." said Itachi as he and his partner walked into the training zone.

Naruto looked at this new comer as Zabuza appeared beside him, while Haku and Konohamaru moved away from the intruders, and made their way over to Naruto and Zabuza. Once they got behind him Naruto narrowed his eyes at Itachi and said "You're not Sasuke-teme, so you must be his older brother Itachi."

As Itachi nodded his head, his partner took one look at Zabuza before a grin crossed his face and said "Well if it isn't the young pup Zabuza. I heard that you recently had a spar with 'Sharingan' Kakashi. Could that possibly be true?"

"And what of it fish face." said Zabuza as he glared at Itachi's partner.

"Fish face. Now is that anyway to greet me after all this time, I think you need a lesson in manners pup." said Itachi's partner as he reached for his sword.

It was at this point that Itachi stepped in and put his arm in front of him and said "Calm down Kisame. We didn't come here to start a fight."

"I know, I know, we came to get the brat right?" said Kisame as he pointed at Naruto.

While Itachi just nodded his head, Naruto analyzed the situation _'This is not good, from what Anko-neechan told me Itachi is an S-Ranked criminal, and from what I can tell, his partner is no pushover. Damn it! Why the hell, do all these really strong shinobi, pop-up out of the woodwork whenever Kaa-san and the others aren't around. We could really use their help right now.'_

Naruto then moved closer to Haku and whispered "Haku-Chan, I want you to take Konohamaru, and get out of here, go and find some help, we're going to need it."

"But Naruto-kun, I can't just leave you and Zabuza-sama here, please let me stay and help you." said Haku as she watched Itachi and Kisame.

"Haku-Chan, we can't leave Konohamaru here, it's to dangerous, and we also need someone to go and get some help. I can't do it, it seems their after me, and it looks like Zabuza-sensei has a past with the fish face over there, so it unlikely, that he'll let him leave. That just leaves you, and theirs no one else I'd rather have do this, because I know you'll get it done." said Naruto as he looked over at Haku.

When Haku saw the look in Naruto's eyes she nodded her head and said "Alright Naruto-kun, I'll take Konohamaru to safety, but I want you to promise me that you'll hold out until I can get back with help, ok?"

"That's a promise." said Naruto as a smile crossed his face before he looked back at Itachi.

It was at this point that Itachi noticed Haku pick up Konohamaru, who shouted in protest, and headed off toward the village at her top speed. Haku had almost made it to the tree line when Itachi appeared in front of her and said "I can't let you leave."

"That's not your call!" shouted Naruto as he appeared behind Itachi and tried to stab him with his Kodachi.

Itachi quickly rotated his body and grabbed a hold of Naruto's wrist and with a quick twist broke Naruto's wrist, which caused him to drop his sword. Itachi then looked down at Naruto and as he released Naruto's wrist he said "Not bad, you appear to have some skill with a blade. It would seem that you've learned how to use the hatred in your heart to become stronger."

Naruto ignored Itachi's comments and screamed out in pain as he grabbed his wrist, he then looked at Haku, who was still rooted in place from when Itachi appeared in front of her, and that's when Naruto shouted "What the hell are you waiting for!? Get out of here NOW!"

Haku looked over at Naruto, before she nodded her head and then with Konohamaru in her arms once again tool off toward the village. That's when Itachi said "You cannot escape."

But before Itachi could even take one step Naruto was in front of him his left hand still holding his right wrist, and as a green glow encompassed his hand he glared at Itachi before he said "The only way you're going to stop them, is over my dead body!"

Itachi took up a non-aggressive posture and said "We didn't come here to fight you Naruto-kun. We've been ordered to extend you this offer, we'd like you to come and join our group."

"And why should I join you? I mean, after what you just did, why should I believe anything you say." said Naruto as he finished healing his wrist.

"For this simple reason Naruto-kun, I've been authorized to offer our assistance, when you decide to get revenge on the ones who shunned you." said an emotionless Itachi.

"What!? You can't be serious." said a shocked Naruto.

Itachi's face remained blank as he said "We know all about your past here Naruto-kun. You can't be subjected to that kind of hatred, and not want revenge."

Naruto just looked Itachi in the eyes and said "While I won't deny, that I hold no love for this place, I've no desire to see them dead, I'm a medic first and foremost, so I won't take a life, unless I absolutely have too."

"I see Tsunade has influenced your behavior, that's to bad, if you refused to see this place for what it is, than I'll have to make you realize it by force." said Itachi as he shook his head and let out a sigh before he activated his Mangekyou Sharingan and captured Naruto with his Tsukuyomi.

"What!? What the hell just happened!?" said a shocked Zabuza as he saw both Naruto and Itachi go motionless.

"Heh, it looks like your little friend is done for Zabuza, and with Itachi busy in that little world he created, I get to have my fun with you!" said Kisame as his hand went for the handle of his sword while he charged at Zabuza.

Naruto shook his head as he slowly opened his eyes and looked at his surroundings before he said "Where the hell aim I?"

That's when he noticed that his arms and legs were chained to a cross, and once he looked forward he saw Tsunade, Shizune, Anko, Haku, and Zabuza on their knees with their hands tied behind their backs. Naruto then glanced up and saw Kushina, Sarutobi, Kakashi, Jiraiya, and Sasuke all standing behind his family, and that's when he said "What the hell's going on?"

Sarutobi ignored Naruto and said "For harboring the demon child, and showing him compassion, you are all sentenced to death."

Naruto then watched on in horror as Sarutobi plunged the sword he was holding into Shizune's heart, he was soon followed by Jiraiya as he slit the throat of Zabuza, Sasuke was next one as he shoved his kunai into Haku's head and said "Take that you demon loving bitch."

Kakashi was next as he plunged a Chidori(Thousand Birds) into Anko's chest, and then it was Kushina's turn, she looked Naruto in the eyes as she said "You shouldn't be so trusting demon." before she chopped Tsunade's head off.

"NNNOOOOO!!!!!" screamed Naruto as he witnessed the slaughter of his family, tears then started to stream down his face, when another Kushina appeared before him and stabbed him in the chest and as he grunted in pain he said "This has to be a genjutsu, it's not real."

"Genjutsu? No, this is the future that you have chosen, and the only way to avoid it, is to join with us. So, what do you say?" said Itachi as he appeared next to Naruto.

Naruto turned and glared at Itachi as he said "Damn you Itachi! When I get out of this, I'm going to make you pay!"

Itachi just raised his hand and everything went back to the way it was before the slaughter, he then lowered his hand and as the killing happened again Itachi said "Very well Naruto-kun, since you've chosen to be so stubborn, you will endure this for the next seventy two hours."

Naruto screamed in pain as he was impaled by the many blades of Itachi's Kushina.

(Inside the seal-Kyuubi's Cage)

'_**Kit?**'_ thought Kyuubi as she was awakened from her nap by the sound of Naruto's scream.

Kyuubi then looked outside of her cage only to see some kind of barrier blocking her view. _'__**What the hell!?**__'_

After a few unsuccessful attempts at trying to contact Naruto, Kyuubi started to channel her chakra and used it to try and bore a hole through this barrier. While she worked on breaking the barrier she thought _'__**Damn it! What the hell's this barrier doing here!? This would never of happened if I'd been awake! I take one little nap, and the kit manages to get himself into some deep trouble, and until I get this barrier down, the kits practically on his own, I just hope he can hold on, until I can break through this.**__'_

(With Tsunade and Kushina)

Tsunade and Kushina had just sat down to enjoy their sake when Haku suddenly burst in, and after a few deep breath's she put Konohamaru down and said "Tsunade-san, Kushina-san! You have to come quick! Someone by the name of Itachi is attacking Naruto-kun and Zabuza-sama as we speak!"

The two women looked at each other for a second before both of them jumped off the coach and ran over to Haku. Once they reached her Tsunade said "Itachi!? Are you sure?'

When Haku nodded her head Tsunade added "Damn it! We have to hurry! If Itachi is after Naruto, than we don't have much time."

Kushina turned to Konohamaru and said "Look kid, I need you to go to The Hokage's office and let him know what happened. Inform him that an S-Ranked criminal is lose in the village, got it?"

"Hey! I'm not a kid!" shouted Konohamaru.

"I don't give a damn! JUST DO IT!" shouted Kushina.

Konohamaru just nodded his head in fear and ran out the door, and once he was out of sight Tsunade turned to Haku and said "Alright Haku-san, lead the way. We have to get there before anything happens to Naruto."

"Hai Tsunade-san, it's this way." said Haku as she ran out the door and headed for the training ground with Tsunade and Kushina right on her heels.

(Back with Naruto)

Naruto grits his teeth in pain as Itachi's copy of Kushina stabbed him yet again, it's been over twelve hours since Naruto was captured in this genjutsu, and after he watched his family die over and over again for that length of time, you could start to see the mental strain take affect.

When Naruto raised his head he saw that his family was once again set up for their execution, and as he watched the horror once again he thought _'I don't know how much more of this I can take. I know that this is a genjutsu, but I've never encounter one so powerful before, and to make matters worse, it's showing me my greatest fear. Damn it! Why can't I contact Baa-Chan? I could really use her help right about now.'_

Meanwhile Itachi stood beside Naruto, when he felt something trying to break in. _'Ah, I see The Kyuubi has awakened from it's slumber. I'm going to have to end this quickly, it won't take her long, to destroy the barrier I placed between them, and when that happens, I won't stand a chance against her wrath.'_

Itachi then turns his attention back to Naruto, only to see that Naruto had turned his head and narrowed his eyes. He then made eye contact with Itachi and said "Itachi, when I break free of this, no force on earth will save you from my wrath."

Itachi just shook his head and intensified the genjutsu before he said "We are only trying to help you understand the truth Naruto-kun."

Naruto screams out in pain as a dozen Kushina's stab him in the chest, before everything reverts back to it's original position. As Naruto's head lowered from exhaustion, his sweat soaked hair covered his eyes, and after he took a couple of deep breaths he said "This won't stop me Itachi. I will get out of this, and when I do…"

"Why? Why do you refuse to see the truth? It's only a matter of time before they show their true colors and try to kill you. So, why not just give in and accept our offer?" asked a bewildered Itachi.

"You think I would just accept this as the truth? I guess you don't know me as well as you thought you did, huh? For starters Ero-sennin, would never go along with this, he would sooner fight all of Konoha than see this happen. Secondly the old man's the same way, if he was really like this, he would have had me executed the day I was born. Now as for Kakashi, I don't know him very well, so who knows what he would do, and Sasuke, I have no doubt in my mind the he would do this if he had the chance. Now as for Kushina, she may have not been there for me when I was a child, but ever since I've met her all I see when I look into her eyes is nothing but regret, so I know she wouldn't do this. So the only monster here is you Itachi. You threatened my family in order to make me do what you want! And that something I won't tolerate, my family took me in and brought me out of the darkness, they saved me from that lonely abyss, so, I'll do whatever I have to in order to protect them! And that's why… And that's why, I'LL NEVER GIVE UP!!!"

The moment Naruto finished saying those words the necklace that Tsunade gave him started to glow, and as the blue glow encompassed the area all of Itachi's illusions disappeared until it was just the two of them. Itachi took several steps back when he noticed the sky had started to crack and that's when he thought _'What? This is impossible. He's somehow creating enough power to break free, and with The Kyuubi trying to get in…'_

Before Itachi could even finish this thought Kyuubi's chakra broke through the cracks in the sky and started to merge with Naruto. As more chakra pored into Naruto a chakra tail started to emerge, then a second tail emerged, then three. It was at this point that the chains that held Naruto started to give way, and as a fourth tail started to emerge he broke out of his restraints, when suddenly a brilliant light filled the area.

Itachi shielded his eyes from the bright light as he said "Impossible."

(The Seal-Kyuubi's cage)

Kyuubi was just about to break through the barrier she suddenly saw cracks appear and that's when she felt a large amount of her chakra start to flow out of the cage and through the cracks in the barrier. Kyuubi's eyes widened when she realized how much chakra was being forced through the seal. _**'Impossible! How can the kit be drawing this much of my chakra? He hasn't even fully mastered the three tailed form yet, and he's already drawn out the four tail! Wait, He's drawing out even more! This can't be happening, he's going into his fifth tailed form! What the hell's going on in there!?'**_

(Back inside Naruto's Mind)

As the light faded we find a five tailed Naruto standing there in all his glory with a strange mixture of blue and red chakra swirling around him. The chakra itself took on an anthropomorphic form of a fox while Naruto's whisker marks became really dark and menacing, his fingernails became as sharp as knives, and his eyes turned a dark shade of red with a black slit in the middle.

Naruto's red eyes focused on Itachi while he raised his right hand and started to channel his chakra before he said **"I told you I would get free. This is my mind after all, and you don't belong here."**

Before Itachi could even react Naruto appeared right beside him and said **"BEGONE!" **as he slammed his reddish/blue Rasengan into Itachi's chest, completely disintegrating the mental representation of Itachi and forcing him back into the real world.

(In the Real World)

Kisame and Zabuza's swords had just made contact when a bright blue glow caught their attention. Not even a second later they felt a huge chakra surge coming from Naruto, and right after that they saw Itachi jerk backwards as if he got punched in the gut, before he dropped down to one knee.

Itachi coughed up some blood before he raised his head and made eye contact with Naruto. He then wiped the blood from his lip and said "I underestimated you Naruto-kun, I didn't think anyone besides another Sharingan user, could break out of my Tsukuyomi."

"**Itachi, this may surprise you, but there are only a couple of things, that I fine unforgivable, and THREATENING MY FAMILY, IN ORDER TO GET TO ME, IS ONE OF THEM!" **said Naruto as he flared his chakra and gave Itachi a harsh glare.

The moment Naruto finished speaking, he heard Kyuubi say "**Kit, what happened behind that barrier? How are you able to channel so much of my chakra?"**

'_Not now Baa-Chan, this bastard is going to pay for what he forced me watch.'_ thought Naruto as he started to walk towards Itachi.

'_**Forced him to watch? Just what happened in there?'**_ thought Kyuubi as she started to get a little concerned.

Meanwhile Kisame just stood there in shock as he heard what Itachi's comments to Naruto before he said "That brat was able to break out of Itachi's Tsukuyomi. That's Impossible!"

"Apparently not, it seems Naruto has a lot more potential, than I gave him credit for. Don't you agree Tsunade?" said Jiraiya as he landed right beside Zabuza, followed shortly by Haku, Tsunade, Shizune, and Kushina.

Tsunade completely ignored Jiraiya as she focused on the glowing jewel around Naruto's neck. _'What's going on? I thought only Ojiisan's chakra could resonate with the necklace, in order to control a Bijuu's chakra.'_

While this was going on Itachi managed to make it to his feet just as Naruto reached him. Naruto then grabbed Itachi by the cloak when he noticed something funny about Itachi's scent, this caused Naruto to narrow his eyes even further as he said **"What's the deal Itachi? Why can I smell two distinct scents, coming from your body?"**

Itachi looked at Naruto and noticed the strain on his face, this is when he said "I see, Kyuubi's Chakra is the only thing keeping you, from feeling the strain of breaking out of my Tsukuyomi, isn't it?"

Naruto ignored Itachi's question and tightened his grip on Itachi's cloak before he said **"Answer my question damn it! What's the deal with your scent?"** Naruto then through Itachi into a nearby tree.

"You think you've beaten me, don't you? But I've only used about fifty percent of my chakra, and the next time we meet, I won't underestimate you." said Itachi as he got back to his feet and looked Naruto in the eyes.

"**And what makes you think that there will be a next time?"**

"Simple, I'm not really here, Kisame do it now." said Itachi as both he and Kisame made an unusual hand seal before both of them fell to the ground.

"**This is an odd jutsu." **said Naruto as he waited a few moments before he causally knelt down and moved Itachi so that he was face up.

"**What the hell!? This isn't Itachi!" **said Naruto as his eyes widen in shock when he sees a completely different person lying there. He then checks this person's vitals only to lower his head and say "He's dead."

Meanwhile Jiraiya was examining the person who use to be Kisame and after a couple of seconds he said "This one is too. It looks like they used these people, as Sacrificial Host bodies."

"Sacrificial Host Bodies? I've never heard of that Jutsu." said Kushina as she moved closer to take a look.

Jiraiya closed the dead person's eyes as he said "These two were sacrificed in order to become Itachi and Kisame in appearance, while those two controlled them from afar."

"**So you're telling me, that they're not even in the village." **said Naruto as he picked up his Kodachi and put it away.

Before Jiraiya could even respond several squads of ANBU completely surrounded them. As a couple of the ANBU advanced on Naruto, who took a couple of steps back while he looked from left to right and brought his hand up to the handle of his Kodachi.

When the ANBU got within ten feet of Naruto, Tsunade and Kushina appeared to block their path, while Haku and Zabuza appeared behind Naruto to make sure no one tried to sneak up on them. After a few tense moments of silence the captain of the ANBU raised his hand and pointed at Naruto before he said "Cease using 'Its' chakra, and stand down now!"

"What's the meaning of this!" shouted Tsunade as she glared at the ANBU captain.

Instead of answering Tsunade the ANBU captain decided to repeat himself. "I said, cease using 'Its' chakra, and stand down now, or we'll be forced to take more drastic action."

After a few more moments of contemplation Naruto was still uncertain on what he should do, so he looked at Tsunade and simply said **"Kaasan?"**

Tsunade continued to glare at the ANBU as she said "We don't have much of a choice Naru-Chan, so do it, and don't worry, I promise, they won't lay a finger on you."

Naruto just nodded his head as he started to channel Kyuubi's chakra back into the seal, which also caused the necklace's glow to fade. Once all of the chakra was back in the seal Naruto started to feel the effects caused by braking out of the Tsukuyomi, so he grabbed his head and went down on one knee.

When Naruto went down Tsunade wanted to go and check on him but was afraid that if she did that then the ANBU might try something so she said "Shizune!"

"I'm on it! Just hold on Naruto-kun, I'll have you back to normal in no time." said Shizune as she started to examine Naruto. Once she finished the exam she turned to Tsunade and said "Tsunade-sama, he's suffered some major mental trauma, I'm going to need some help here."

Just then Jiraiya put his hand on Tsunade's shoulder and said "Tsunade, go and look after your son, I deal with the ANBU."

"Thanks Jiraiya." said Tsunade as a small smile appeared on her face as she when to go and help Naruto.

While this was going on one of the ANBU members checked the two people lying on the ground, and when he say their faces he said "SIR! These are the civilians that disappeared several days ago!"

The ANBU captain walked over and checked them before he said "They're dead. Take that child into custody now!"

As some of the ANBU moved in on Naruto, Jiraiya just looked the captain in the eyes before he said "I wouldn't do that if I were you."

"And why is that Jiraiya-sama?"

"Because if you lay one finger on him, you won't live to see tomorrow." said Kushina as she flared her chakra and got into her fighting stance.

"Like she said, not only would you have to face Kushina here, but you'd also have to deal with two of the Legendary Sannin, and I don't think you want that. Do you?" said Jiraiya as he narrowed his eyes and got a serious look on his face.

Just then the Hokage arrives on the scene, and after he surveys the area he said "What's going on here!?"

"Well Hokage-sama, we found that kid over there using 'Its' chakra, and then we found the two missing civilians, they were both dead, apparently killed by the It." said the ANBU captain as we walked over to Sarutobi.

"That's a lie! Naruto was just defending himself from Itachi!" shouted Tsunade as she continued to heal the trauma.

"Don't waste your breath Tsunade-sama, I don't think these idiots would believe us, even if we had Itachi in our custody. Even I can see that most of them, are blinded by their hate. Let's just get out of here." said Zabuza as he looked from left to right and tightened his grip on his sword while Haku remained in a defensive stance right beside him.

"Watch what you say Zabuza, these ANBU are trained to ascertain the situation with but a quick glace." said Sarutobi as he gave Zabuza a harsh glare before he looked over at Naruto and Tsunade, he then turned back to the ANBU captain and said "But in this case, I'd have to agree Tsunade here. I highly doubt that those two civilians, could have caused enough injuries to Naruto, to get him to look that bad."

"Hey old man! I'd like to see how you'd look, after braking out of that damn Tsukuyomi of Itachi's." said Naruto as he lifted his head and tried to get up.

Tsunade immediately put her hand on his shoulder to stop this attempt before she said "Easy now Naru-Chan, let me finish healing you before you try to move."

As Tsunade finished healing Naruto, Sarutobi walked up to them and said "Naruto, did you just say you broke out of Itachi's Tsukuyomi?"

"Yes I did, and let me tell you, that was the strongest genjutsu I've ever faced, but now that I've experienced it, I'm going to have to create a counter. Because I do NOT want to go through that again." said Naruto as he shook his head a couple of times before he got to his feet and continued with "I feel a lot better now. Thanks Kaasan. Thanks Shizune-neechan."

"Heh, yeah right kid, The Tsukuyomi is the strongest genjutsu ever known, there's no way YOU broke out of it." said one of the ANBU members.

"I really don't care if you believe me or not, but it did happen." said Naruto as he started to get a little irritated.

This is when Kushina decided to that enough was enough and said "Look Sarutobi, we told you what happened, Itachi attacked Naruto-kun and he defended himself. So why don't we just leave it at that, and call it a day."

"If what you say is true then where is he? None of my men saw anyone leave the area, so that leads me to conclude that Itachi wasn't even here." said the ANBU captain.

"Are you calling my son a liar?" said an angry Kushina as she narrowed her eyes and got in the captains face.

Sarutobi pulled the two apart and said "Now, now, no one is calling anyone a liar here, but the captain does raise a good point. If Itachi was here than where did he go?"

"I can answer that one Sarutobi-sensei. It appears that Itachi use these two people as sacrificial host bodies, so he could get into the village and go after Naruto, and when he canceled the jutsu, there bodies returned to normal, killing them in the process. So, Itachi could be miles away by now." said Jiraiya as he walked up to Sarutobi.

"I see, to think that Itachi would use that Jutsu just to get at Naruto…, but what really concerns me, is that Itachi was able to get through our security so easily. I want a complete investigation into this matter is that clear." said Sarutobi as he looked at the ANBU captain.

"But Hokage-sama! You can't be serious! Are you telling us to just let the boy go!?" shouted the Captain.

"That's exactly what I'm saying. You have no evidence that contradicts their statements, so they aren't going to be held, IS THAT CLEAR! And if you question my orders again, I'll reduce your rank to that of a Genin, and make sure, you're only assigned the lowliest of D-Ranked mission, until I say otherwise. GOT IT!" said Sarutobi as he glared at the ANBU captain.

"H-Hai Hokage-sama. Alright men, you heard Hokage-sama, spread out and search the area, for anything out of the ordinary, then question all the gate guards. Try and find out how Itachi got into the village." said the ANBU captain as he and his men headed of to perform their duties.

After all of the ANBU left Sarutobi turn to Tsunade and said "I'm sorry for all the trouble Tsunade, and don't worry, I'll have them increase security around the village. I won't let this happen again."

Tsunade just nodded her head before she said "Thanks Sarutobi-sensei, but I'd look a little closer to home, they had to have help from the inside, how else could they have found out that Naru-Chan was still alive. Now if you'll excuse us we have to be on our way."

Tsunade then had the others head back to her compound and as they walked away Sarutobi couldn't help but ponder Tsunade's words _'Could Tsunade be right? Naruto has only been back for a couple of days, and the Akatsuki are already after him. So this begs the question, Who informed them of Naruto's survival? Who betrayed the village? I've got a bad feeling about this.'_

(Later that evening at Tsunade's compound)

After Tsunade and the others returned to the compound, Naruto went to his room saying that he wanted to be alone for a little while so he could think. Many hours later Naruto had yet to come out and Shizune decided to go and check on him. When she reached his door she knocked a couple of times before she opened it.

When she looked inside she was shocked to discover that the room was empty with the only sign on how he left was an open widow by his bed. As she was about to run out and inform Tsunade, she noticed a small note left on the dresser. Shizune picked up the note and began to read it.

Sorry everyone, but I just couldn't think clearly in my room so I decided to get some fresh air and stretch my legs so to speak. I'll be back in a little while so don't worry about me ok.

Naruto

After Shizune read the letter again she ran out of the room to go and tell Tsunade.

In the main living room of the Compound, Anko rested her back against the wall as she looked at Tsunade and said "So, when are you guys going to tell me what happened earlier today. I know I felt Kyuubi's chakra, and when I went to investigate, ANBU had already secured the area and wouldn't let me in. They're just lucky that Kakashi, Kurenai, and Asuma showed up when they did, otherwise they would have gotten a lot worse, than just a couple of scraps and cuts."

"A couple of scraps and cuts? From what I heard two of them had to be sent to the Hospital, and one of them is probably just thankful, that he can still see out of his left eye. I just wish I could have seen their faces, when you started to kick the crap out of them." said Kushina as she got a smile on her face and shook her head.

Tsunade started to chuckle before she said "Yes, that would have been a sight to see, but to answer your question, we really don't know. All we do know is that Itachi tried to capture Naru-Chan, and during the confrontation Itachi was able to get Naruto with a very powerful Genjutsu. Naru-Chan was somehow able to brake out of it, and then lets just say that Itachi got away."

"So, what did the Gaki see in the Genjutsu?" asked a concerned Anko.

"We don't know, he refuses to talk about it, and it's got me a little worried. Whatever happened their, combined with his breakout caused a lot of trauma, I helped where I could but, I don't know how it effected him mentally." said a very worried Tsunade.

Just then Shizune burst into the room and shouted "Tsunade-sama! Tsunade-sama! Naruto-kun left a note that said, he went out to get some fresh air and to sort things out! We have to go and find him, with everything that's happened I don't think he should be out there alone."

Tsunade just leaned back in her chair and brought her left hand up to her chin before she said "I see coming back here, has brought out some of Naru-Chan's old habits."

Kushina got a curious look on her face before she said "What do you mean Tsunade?"

"When we first took Naru-Chan in, he had a habit of going off, and finding a quiet place to think whenever was troubled. It took me a couple of years, but I finally was able to get Naru-Chan to talk to me about what was troubling him." said Tsunade as she let out a sigh and then continued "But as I said, it looks like this habit has resurfaced. So, we better go and look for him, we still don't know if Itachi has left the village or not, and I don't want to run the risk of losing him, so lets go."

After everyone in the room nodded their heads they all split up to go and look for Naruto. As Tsunade left the compound she tried to figure out where Naruto could have gone to, that's when she suddenly remember something Naruto had told her once and she then turned her gaze toward the Hokage Monument.

(Meanwhile at The Hokage Monument)

Naruto was currently on top of the Yondaime's head, lying on his back as he stared at the Necklace that Tsunade had given him as he thought _'This little thing saved my life today. But…, how did it help me control so much of Baa-Chan's chakra? I thought that only the Shondai Hokage, could use this necklace to control the powers of a Bijuu. What do you think Baa-Chan?'_

"**I'm not to sure what to think right now Kit, but there is one thing I do know. This necklace definitely responded to your chakra, and not only that, but it helped you control your five tailed form."**

'_I know that, but the question still remains, why did it respond to my chakra in the first place? And more importantly, will I be able to learn, how to use it anytime I want?'_

"**I don't know kit, I guess only time will tell."**

Just as Kyuubi finished saying that a noise could be heard from behind Naruto, and as he got to his feet he saw Tsunade come out from behind the tree line.

When Tsunade saw that Naruto was definitely here, her lips curved into a small smile as she said "I thought I'd find you here. I remember you telling me, that this use to be your favorite place to come, and get away from all the hatred of the village."

"Yeah, at first I just went at for a walk, but after several choice words from some of the villagers, I decided to come here, and get some piece and quiet. But enough about that, I just can't believe you remembered that. I mean, I only told you once, and that was a long time ago." said Naruto as he sat back down.

As Naruto stared out over the village, Tsunade sat down right next to him and as she put her arm around him she said "Hey Naru-Chan, is everything ok? You've been really quiet since your encounter with Itachi, if there's anything you want to talk about, I'm always ready to lend an ear."

"Thanks Kaasan…, maybe it would help if I told someone about this." said Naruto as he closed his eyes and took a deep breath before he opened his eyes and continued "Well, when Itachi had me in his Tsukuyomi, he showed me my worst nightmare."

"Your worst nightmare?… You don't mean?" said Tsunade as he eyes widened in realization.

"Yeah Kaasan, he forced me to watch, as the ones I care about were slaughtered, and he even had the guts to have Kushina, the old man, Jiraiya, and a couple of Konoha Shinobi personally kill you all. When I get my hands on him…" said Naruto in a low voice as he clinched his fits and gritted his teeth

Without a moments hesitation Tsunade enveloped Naruto in a hug and as she rocked him back and forth she said "Don't worry, it's ok Naru-Chan, we won't let him get away with this. The next time he shows up we'll beat him down together, ok?"

Naruto couldn't help but chuckle when he pictured Itachi beaten to a pulp and begging for his life after he and Tsunade had gotten through with him, sure it might not happen that way, but it did wonders for Naruto's mood. After Naruto settled down he looked over at Tsunade and said "Thanks Kaasan, I needed that."

Meanwhile in the woods behind them, Kushina had hidden herself behind one of the trees, she had come up here to look for Naruto when she overheard Naruto and Tsunade talking. But before she made her presence known Naruto told Tsunade about what he was forced to watch, and when she heard that Itachi had used her image to help slaughter Naruto's loved ones, she just leaned against one of the trees and slide down until she was in sitting position, she then brought her hand up to her chest and thought _'Itachi used my image to slaughter Naruto-kun's loved ones. How am I ever going to prove myself to him now?'_

After Kushina came out of her shock about this she then clinched her fist as she Narrowed her eyes and thought _'THAT BASTARD! I'm going to make him suffer for what he did to my son!'_

As Tsunade released Naruto from the hug she asked him "Naru-Chan? You said that Itachi used Kushina's image in the Genjutsu, right? So, does this change your opinion of her?"

Naruto thought about for a moment before he said "Actually yes, but not in the way you might think, with what Itachi did, and then Kushina's actions after the ANBU showed up, it made me realize something, and that is, I don't really hate her."

"You don't really hate her?"

"Yeah, I can't really explain it, but every time I saw her kill you, I knew deep down that she would never do that, and then when she stood up to the ANBU in my defense, I may not of shown it, but it made me realize that she really does care about me and is willing to stand up to Konoha, just like my Kaasan. And besides, if I hadn't been left in this village to rot, I never would have met you or the rest of my family." said Naruto as he got a smile on his face and looked over at Tsunade who returned the smile.

After Kushina heard Naruto's comments tears started to well up in her eyes and as a smile appeared on her face she thought _'He doesn't hate me. Naruto-kun doesn't hate me! Now I just hope he can find it in his heart to see me as another member of his family.'_

Naruto and Tsunade sat there for a little while before Naruto looked down at the Shodai's Necklace in his hand and said "Well Kaasan, it looks like the curse on this necklace has been lifted, doesn't it?"

Tsunade got a curious look on her face as she said "The curse has been lifted? What do you mean Naru-Chan?"

"Well, this necklace is responsible for saving my life today. I don't think I would have been able to break out of Itachi's Tsukuyomi, with out it's help. I just wish I knew how I was able to use it the way I did?" said Naruto as he rotated the necklace in his hands and watched the light reflect off of it.

"I don't know either Naru-Chan, my Ojiisan is the only one I know about that can use the necklace like that, but I promise you, we are going to find out." said Tsunade as she looked at the glimmering necklace.

"And I'll help you figure it out too." said Kushina as she made her presence known and walked out from behind the tree line.

Naruto and Tsunade quickly turned around and looked at Kushina before Naruto said "How long have you been there?"

Kushina just lowered her head slightly and in a soft voice said "Since you said Itachi showed you your worst nightmare."

"I see…" said Naruto as he let out a deep sigh before he continued with "Then I guess you know that I don't hate you but…"

"I know Naruto-kun, you might not hate me, but you don't feel any kind of connection with me either, right?" interrupted Kushina, and when she saw Naruto nod his head she added "That's what I thought, but all I'm asking, is that you let me become a part of your life. I want to be there for you, like Tsunade-sama has been, and believe me when I tell you this, I have no intentions of trying to replace Tsunade-sama, but I hope that in time, you might come to see me as a second mother. So please, just let me be apart of your life, and then we'll see where we go from there, ok?"

As Naruto thought about this Kushina crossed her fingers and hoped for the best, and when Naruto finally came to a decision he looked directly at Kushina and said "Alright, I won't stop you from being apart of my life, and as for the rest, we'll just wait and see what happens."

Kushina got a big smile on her face and as she wiped away her tears of happiness she said "Thank-you Naruto-kun, thank-you, you have no idea how much this means to me."

This happiness was short lived however as just a few moments after Kushina was able to compose herself a Chunin Messenger appeared and looked at Naruto before he said "Naruto Uzumaki?"

Naruto looked at this shinobi suspiciously before he said "And if I am?"

The Chunin Messenger simply said "I've been instructed to inform you, that you have been summoned to appear before the council.

"On what grounds?" said Tsunade as she walked up to the messenger.

"I-It regards the incident earlier today, T-Tsunade-sama." said the intimidated Chunin.

"You've got to be kidding me! Are they trying to pin that on me now?" said an aggravated Naruto.

The Chunin turns to face Naruto once again and said "I wouldn't know, I was just instructed to find you and bring you to the council chambers."

Kushina looked at the Chunin with a questioning gaze as she said "And if he refuses to go?"

"Then a contingent of ANBU will be sent, to place him under arrest for obstructing an ongoing investigation."

Naruto just looked at the Chunin with a very serious look on his face as he said "So, what your telling me is that I really have no say in the matter."

"That's correct, now if you'll follow me, I'll take you to the council chambers." said the Chunin as he waited for a response.

Tsunade just looked at Naruto and said "Well Naru-Chan, what do you want to do?"

Naruto pondered this for a couple of seconds before he said "Well, I don't really feel like having an entire village, trying to hunt me down once I leave here, so, we'll go and see what they want. If things go bad, we can always make a brake for it, right Kaasan?"

"Right, no matter what happens Naru-Chan, I won't let them lay one finger on you." said Tsunade as she put her hand on Naruto's shoulder.

Kushina then put her hand on his other shoulder and when he turned to look at her, she got a smile on her face and said "That goes double for me."

Naruto couldn't help but get a smile on his face as he nodded his head in appreciation, he then looked over at the Chunin and said "Lead the way, I want to get this over with as soon as possible."

The Chunin just nodded his head and lead them toward the Council Chambers.

Next Chapter: The Big Gamble: Naruto Faces his Persecutors.

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Author's note2: Well I hope you liked this latest installment of Konoha's Mistake. Now onto the poll as it stands these are the results so far

Lightening: 37

Metal: 19

Fire: 17

Earth: 15

Darkness: 12


	16. Chapter 16 The Big Gamble

-1

"Speech"

'_Thoughts'_

**Demon/Summon/inner Sakura speech**

_**Demon/Summon thoughts**_

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or any of the characters created by Kishimoto, but all OC's are my own creation.

jamiee84: I'm not mad, but to answer your question I set up my council a little differently than what is in cannon. The Hokage has absolute authority in all matters that pertain to village security, all shinobi issues in general (from approving promotions to assigning missions and everything in between); he also has the final say in all matters pertaining to up holding the law (meaning he has to approve all sentences and executions). Now as for the council itself while it does advise the Hokage in all the previously mentioned items, they have more power when it comes to clan matters and the day to day life in the village.

dragoon-zerox: I'm glad to see your still reading and I'll answer what questions I can. For your first question, yes some of the council members are doing things behind the Hokage's back, and trying to manipulate things so that the outcome grants them more power over the village. Now as for your questions on if other council members are going to catch on that will be shown as the story progresses. Now as for what Tsunade, Kushina, and Sarutobi are going to do in the council meeting you'll see that in this chapter.

BrownBag51: To answer you question about whether Itachi was trying to get him to join or just trick him so they could get the demon. Well it's a little bit of both actually, they were going to have him join hand and help gather the other Bijuu's then extract the Kyuubi from him, so they were planning to double cross him from the beginning.

Bleedndreamz: I did think about just having Kushina talk to Naruto on top of the Hokage Monument but I couldn't think of a good reason as to why he would confide in her about what he saw in the Tsukiyomi, when he wouldn't talk about it with Tsunade and the others, that's why I took the route I did, but don't worry Naruto and Kushina will get more face to face time soon, for both Kushina and Tsunade will be training Naruto during the month lapse between the second and third exams.

Kwisatz Haderach: Thanks for pointing that out. I don't know why I didn't do that from the beginning, but I'm going to start writing their names the way the Japanese do. Sorry about that.

Authors note: I'm glad to see that everyone liked the last Chapter. Also there were a couple of people how talked about the ANBU and I just wanted to let you know that the attitude of the one captain doesn't reflect how everyone in the ANBU feel about Naruto, this will become apparent when we get to the forest of Death.

And now on with the story

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Chapter 16: The Big Gamble: Naruto Faces his Persecutors.

(Council Chambers)

"Hokage-sama! I'm sure you felt it, the seal has to be weakening! It's only a matter of time before it breaks out and kills us all! We have to do something before things get out of hand!" shouted the Haruno Clan head.

Tsume slammed her hands on the table as she stood up and said "Now just hold on Haruno-san! From what I've heard, Naruto was in complete control of his faculties while using Kyuubi's Chakra. So, I don't think we have to worry about the Kyuubi getting out of the seal."

"But can we really take that risk Tsume-san! You know better than anyone, the ruthlessness of the Kyuubi! I mean it was responsible for your dogs missing eye, and it would have killed you too, if Yandaime-sama hadn't arrived and sealed the vial beast! I say we kill it know!!" said a civilian member as he slammed his fist hard into the table.

"I second that! We can't run the risk, that at some point in time, the seal will weaken and the Kyuubi will be released! We have to kill the demon child now! While there is still a village worth saving!" said another civilian member of the council as he looked to Danzou for support.

"I'm going to have to agree with Haruno-san and the others on this matter. While it may be true that the boy has control of the Kyuubi's chakra for now, but who's to say, that won't change in the future. We should take care of this now while we still have the chance." Danzou as he leaned back in his chair and remained expressionless for a few second before he looked over at Koharu and Homura and then gave them a quick nod.

This action didn't go unnoticed by Sarutobi and he narrowed his eyes at Danzou and his former teammates while he thought _'What are you three planning?'_ and before anyone could say anything else he said "SILENCE! This bickering is pointless. I've already discussed this matter with the Daimyo earlier today, and he agreed with my decision to let Naruto be, and trust in Tsunade's judgment."

'_Damn you Sarutobi! You're always getting in my way!'_ thought Danzou, but before he could say anything the newly repaired double doors opened and the Chunin messenger entered followed shortly by Naruto, Kushina, and Tsunade. When everyone saw the group enter they went silent and waited for them to get to the middle of the room.

Once Naruto and the others reached the middle, Sarutobi got a concerned look on his face as he noticed Naruto's expression and said "Naruto, You do know the reason you've been called before the council, right?"

Naruto just looked around the room before he made eye contact with Sarutobi and said "No, but if I had to guess, I would say some of them are trying to pin the deaths of those to villagers on me. Right?"

"HOW DARE YOU accuse us of 'pinning' the murders of those poor civilians on you! Especially when it's so obvious what really happened!" shouted the Haruno clan head as he pointed his index finger at Naruto.

Naruto just glared at him and in a mocking tone of voice said "Well, if it's so obvious. Then why do you refuse to believe all the witness, when they say, Itachi used a jutsu that resulted in those two villagers deaths."

Haruno's face turned beet red as his anger boiled over as he shouted "I will not be talked to in such a manner! I am a member of this council BOY, and you will show me the proper respect!"

"I only show respect to those who have earned it." said Naruto as his eyes narrowed even further at Haruno.

At this point Tsume leaned forward and rested her chin on her hands and in a soft voice said "And have any of us earned your respect Naruto-san?"

Naruto's face softened as he looked over at Tsume and with a slight smile said "One or Two Tsume-san."

"Whether he respects us or not is beside the point. It still doesn't change the fact that two villagers are dead, and SUPPOSEDLY, we have an S-Class criminal loose in the village." said Danzou as he looked down at Naruto.

Kushina just glared at Danzou as she said "There's nothing supposed about it! Itachi was in this village earlier today. But since this council has been dragging its feet, it wouldn't surprise me if he already got away."

Danzou just narrowed his eyes as he looked at Kushina and said "Choose your words carefully Kushina, or you may find yourself digging your own grave."

"Is that a threat Danzou?" said Kushina as she took up a more defensive posture.

"Enough both of you!" shouted Sarutobi as he took a few moments to calm himself, he then looked at Naruto and with a curious look on his face said "Now Naruto, whatever gave you that idea?"

"Well, I was informed that if I didn't come, that a contingent of ANBU would be sent after me for interfering with an ongoing investigation." said Naruto as he crossed his arms over his chest.

"Oh really? And just who authorized this?" asked Sarutobi as he narrowed his eyes and looked over at the Chunin messenger.

The Messenger got a nervous look on his face before he bowed and said "I-I'm s-sorry Hokage-sama, b-but isn't that the usual punishment, for people who refuse to help in an ongoing investigation?"

"It is, but only when I give permission, which of course I didn't give. Report to my office once this meeting is over, that's when we'll discuss this matter, but until then consider yourself relieved." said Sarutobi, and as he watched the Chunin leave he thought_ 'So, you're not going to tell me willing are you? Well, I guess it's time I let Ibiki do his job.'_

Just then The doors burst open and in came Jiraiya and with a very pissed off look on his face said "And just what are you trying to do to Naruto?"

"What do you mean Jiraiya-sama? We simply requested his presence, so we could clear up some of the questions we have about the earlier incident." said Hiashi as he looked over at Jiraiya.

Jiraiya just got a skeptical look on his face as he said "Yeah right, according to my sources, some of you are planning to use this incident to get at Naruto, instead of focusing on the real problem. Which is, finding out how a criminal like Itachi was able to sneak into the village abduct two villagers and then attack Naruto, all under the nose of this village's ANBU."

"Jiraiya, are you insinuating that they had inside help?" asked Danzou as he leaned back in his chair and remained calm.

"If he's not I am! It's too much of a coincidence, that a few days after we return to the village, Itachi suddenly shows up and goes after Naru-Chan." said Tsunade as her patients grew thin and she started to tap her foot.

"Tsunade-sama has a point, none of us knew that Naruto was even alive until a few days ago, and they were never attacked before coming back here. So there has to be a connection." said a troubled Shikaku.

"But how do we know that they didn't discover this on their own, and that's even if they were really here to begin with." said an arrogant council member.

Naruto just looked at the council member and with a serious look on his face he said "Are you calling me a liar?"

Koharu looked at Naruto with a stern face and said "Certainly not, but the ANBU have found no physical evidence that places Itachi anywhere in the village. So, we are left to draw our own conclusions."

"You mean to let your hatred run wild. You're nothing but hypocrites, you go on and on about not persecuting anyone with out any physical evidence, and yet here you are condemning me for doing something I didn't do, and without any evidence to boot. It seems that you only follow your own rules whenever it suites you, disgraceful." said Naruto with a bit of disgust in his voice.

Danzou just glared at Naruto as he angrily said "Why you little brat! You think you can just walk in here, and insult us like that!"

"Yes I do! I mean if you ignore the testimony of two of The Legendary Sannin and Konohamaru, who happens to be the Hokage's grandson, than what am I to think?!" said Naruto as he pointed to Sarutobi when he got to the part about Konohamaru.

"What a minute! What is this about the honorable grandson? Did he really witness these events?" asked Tsume as she looked over at Sarutobi.

Sarutobi nodded his head and said "Yes he did, Konohamaru gave me his statement shortly after I returned from the scene, and I placed it in with the other statements the ANBU collected."

"But Hokage-sama, don't you think Konohamaru should be here to tell his side of the story?" ask Inoichi.

"It really doesn't matter if Hokage-sama's grandson is here or not. All that matters is that the council will decide your fate." said a chubby council member as he spoke up before the Hokage could answer.

"OH? And just how gave the council that authority Danzou?" said Sarutobi as he looked over at his former teammates before he turned his gaze to the chubby council member and added "And you, if you ever answer a question aimed at me again, you'll be held in contempt and punished accordingly, you know full well, that no one is to interject on any questions I'm asked."

The council member meekly nodded his head before Haruno spoke up. "Hokage-sama, with all do respect, there are two villagers murdered here, so I think the council should have some say in the fate of the person responsible."

Sarutobi directed his attention toward Haruno and narrowed his eyes as he said "I will only punish the guilty party and no one else."

It was at this point and time that Tsunade's patients reached their limit so she slammed her fist into a nearby table, completely destroying it and then looked at the council and said "Enough of this BULLSHIT! Look Sarutobi-sensei, you already have our report about the incident. So, I'm not going to put my son through this any longer, we're out of here."

As Tsunade and the others turned to leave, Homura stood up from his seat and said "Tsunade! You know very well that you aren't allowed to leave, until the council dismisses you."

Both Tsunade and Kushina stopped in their tracks, turned around and glared at Homura as both of them said "Oh? And who's going to stop us?"

"Tsunade-sama, Kushina-sama, please don't leave just yet. I apologize for the actions of the other council members, so please stay and let us hear Naruto's side of the story. That way we can put all the disbelievers in their place." pleaded Inoichi.

Tsunade raised an eyebrow when she heard this and asked "Put the disbelievers in their place?"

Tsume saw a chance that Tsunade might actually stay so she added "Yes Tsunade-sama, there are quite a few council members that don't believe some of Naruto-san statement and that is what they are using to try and put him in a false light. So please I'm begging you, just let Naruto answer a few questions so we can put these disbelievers in their place."

After a few moments of silence Tsunade turned to Naruto and said "What do you think Naru-Chan?"

Naruto brought his hand up to his chin and after a little contemplation he said "I've got a feeling, I know what part of the statement they don't believe. So, I'll let them ask their question. If for no other reason, than to see their faces, when they realize that I'm telling them the truth."

Sarutobi just shook his head and got a small smile on his face as he said "Alright Naruto, lets get straight to the point, there are some people here, that don't believe the part about you breaking out of Itachi's Tsukuyomi. So they want me to ask you, if you really broke out like you said."

Naruto suppressed a laugh before he said "I thought as much…, yes, I did break out of Itachi's Tsukuyomi."

This caused quite an uproar among the council but the Haruno clan head's voice could be heard above the others as he said "HA! Yeah right! You expect us to believe that YOU, were able to break out of The Uchiha Clan's most powerful genjutsu. That's impossible, unless you have another Doujutsu. After all, our two most revered shinobi clans are Doujutsu users, and their members are always a step above our other shinobi."

Surprisingly this comment was followed by an eerie silence as most of the Shinobi Clan heads just looked at Haruno in disgust. Meanwhile Naruto just narrowed his eyes and glared at the Haruno Clan head and merely said "It takes more than just a Doujutsu, to be a good Shinobi."

One of the Civilian Council Members looked at Naruto and in a mocking tone of voice said "Yeah right, and I guess you're going to tell us, that it takes a demon sealed inside of you, to make a good shinobi."

Kushina just glared at this council member, but before she could even move a muscle Naruto's arm shot out in front of her. She then turned to look at Naruto, who was looking over his shoulder at her, and when they made eye contact he simply shook his head and mouthed the word 'No'.

Naruto then returned his gaze to the council member and in a serious tone of voice said "That's not what I was going to say. What I was going to say was this, it takes a good teacher, a lot of hard work, and the will to never give up, no matter how hard it gets. If you need an example, just look at the Hokage's, none of them have a Doujutsu, and yet they were considered the best of the best."

Sarutobi got a smile on his face when he heard this and thought _'Well Naruto, it looks like you've inherited the will of fire after all, your father would be proud. It's just a shame that the village he sacrificed his life to save, has shunned you, and forced you away. I wonder what your father would have to say about all of this?'_

Sarutobi was brought out of his thoughts as he heard one of the civilian members say "The Hokage's have nothing to do with this, if you were to face Sasuke-san without using 'ITS' chakra, you wouldn't stand a chance. No amount of hard work can overcome someone as gifted as the Uchiha."

"Please, Sasuke-teme couldn't beat me on my worst day." said Naruto as he waved his hand dismissively at the council member.

"Well then, why don't you prove it. Since you're taking the Chunin Exams, why don't you face Sasuke-san in the third part of the exams. That is assuming that you make it that far." said Koharu as she took this opportunity to issue this challenge to Naruto.

Before Naruto could even answer Sarutobi interrupted with "That won't be possible, Sasuke is ineligible to partake in the exams this time round."

"That's outrageous! What possible reason could you have for not allowing the last of the Uchiha clan to participate?" said an angry Haruno.

Sarutobi just looked over at Haruno and said "It's his punishment for his conduct on one of his missions. He attacked some of his allies during a very dangerous mission, and almost put his team in peril."

"I see, and for this reason, you won't allow him to submit his application. Right?" said Danzou as he leaned back in his chair.

Once he saw Sarutobi nod his head he turned to Naruto and said "Well, it looks like luck is on your side isn't it Naruto. Now you won't have to fight Sasuke-san and get humiliated in the process."

"It's the other way around Danzou. Sasuke-teme is the lucky one, we wouldn't want to embarrass him in front of the whole village now. Would we?" said Naruto as he narrowed his eyes at Danzou and wondered _'What are you trying to pull off, egging me on like this?'_

"Well I guess we'll never know, will we? That is unless, Sarutobi changes his mind, but I don't see that happening, and you're probably too scared to ask him yourself. That's completely understandable you know, I mean, I don't know many people who aren't afraid of facing an Uchiha." said Danzou as he brought his hands up to his face so that his fingers came to rest just below his nose.

"**Careful Kit, he's trying to manipulate you, so that he gets what he's after."**

'_I know Baa-Chan, but you know what? I really don't care, if I can get Sarutobi to agree to let Sasuke-teme in the exams. Than when I get a chance to fight him, I can do just about anything I want to him and the village can't do a damn thing about it.'_

Kyuubi thought about it for a second before a smile appeared on her face and she said **"That's actually a good idea Kit. If you do it that way, you can get back at him for nearly killing your mate. Go for it, and I'll be waiting to see what you do to that Uchiha brat. HA, HA,HA!"**

'_We're just friends Baa-Chan!! Besides what could she possible see in me, I mean, I am just the living prison for you after all. She may have accepted me as a friend, but I doubt she could ever find it in her heart, to care for me like that anyway.'_ replied a saddened Naruto.

"**Kit, she's not like the people of this village, give her a chance, I think she might surprise you."** said Kyuubi as she started to worry if his time in Konoha had hurt him more than she realized.

After Kyuubi's comment Naruto remained quiet for a moment before he decided to return to the matter at hand. He looked Danzou straight in the eyes and said "I'm not scared of fighting Sasuke-teme."

"Then why don't you prove it. Ask Hokage-sama if he'll let Sasuke compete." said Danzou as a smile appeared on his face.

"Very well." said Naruto as he noticed the smiles on some of the council members. _'Fools, you have no idea what you've just sentence your precious Uchiha to.'_ thought Naruto as he turned to face Sarutobi and once he made eye contact he said "Old man…"

"Naruto, you do realize that they are just manipulating you, so they can get what they want." interrupted Sarutobi .

Naruto got a serious look on his face as he said "I'm well aware of that, but I have my own reason for wanting Sasuke-teme, to participate in the exam. So I'll play along, and ask you this favor."

Sarutobi was about to say no when he say the look in Naruto's eyes and it finally dawned on him why he was asking this. _'So, you want to make him pay for what he did to your friend, and not have to worry about any kind of backlash for the village, huh?'_ "Naruto, if I allowed this, than how will Sasuke ever learn from his mistakes?"

"Don't worry old man, I promise, by the end of the Chunin Exams, I'll make sure that he learns from his mistakes." said Naruto as he let a half smile appear on his face.

Sarutobi just shook his head and then looked Naruto right in the eyes and in a serious tone of voice said "Naruto, if I agree to this, you have to promise me, that you will not kill him, or leave him permanently maimed. Got it."

Naruto just let out a sigh and said "Yeah, Yeah, I'll make sure I don't kill him, but I have one request. Tell him that I'm the only reason, that he's allowed to take the exams, that should really piss him off."

"Very well Naruto, I'll grant your request, but if I see that Sasuke is conducting himself in a manner that is unfitting of a shinobi I'll pull him out of the exam." said Sarutobi.

"WHAT!? I thought only the committee could make a decision like that!" shouted Haruno.

Sarutobi shot a harsh glare at Haruno and in a deadly tone of voice said "The Committee has no say, if a village leader chooses to remove one of their shinobi from the exam. Now as for Naruto, I see no further need to keep him here, so he and his family can leave."

"With all due respect Hokage-sama, but I feel that I should point out, that we really haven't come to any kind of conclusion. We still don't know how Itachi and his partner got past village security." said Shikaku in a lazy tone of voice.

"I know, so I've picked a select group of ANBU, to look into the matter. They will be investigating every single lead on this matter, no matter where it leads them. So if any of you are hiding anything, they will discover it, and you will be punished accordingly." said Sarutobi as he gave every council member a stern look before he continued with "Now this meeting is over and in three days, on July 1st the Chunin Selection Exams will begin."

(Time skip three days later)

Tsunade, Kushina, Shizune, Anko, Zabuza and Jiraiya all escorted Naruto and Haku to the Academy where the Chunin Exams were being held. Once they reached the doors leading inside Tsunade looked at Naruto and Haku before she said "Well good luck in there, and remember this is a shinobi exam, so…"

"Always look underneath the underneath, right Kaasan?" said Naruto as he finished Tsunade's sentence.

A slightly annoyed Tsunade pointed at Naruto and said "You know I hate it when you do that."

This caused a couple of people in the group to stifle a laugh, once they settled down Anko stepped forward and ruffled Naruto's hair before she said "You'd better make it to the final rounds Gaki, or I'm going to have to increase your training."

When Naruto saw the sadistic grin that Anko got on her face after she finished talking, he did a little gulp before he said "Don't worry Anko-neechan, I'll make it, beside I want to get a little payback on Sasuke-teme as well."

Zabuza was the next one to step forward, he just looked at both of them before he nodded and said "You two have come far, you should have no problem with this test."

Haku got a smile on her face and gave a slight bow before she said "I won't disappoint you Zabuza-sama."

Shizune just gave them a smile and wished them luck and Jiraiya got a smile on his face as he said "Give them hell kid."

"You got it Ero-sennin, they won't know what hit them." said Naruto as he gave Jiraiya a thumbs up before he and Haku started to head for the door.

Just as Naruto and Haku were about to enter the building Kushina shouted "Wait!"

Both of them turned around to face her and Naruto said "Yes?"

Kushina walked up to them, reached into her pouch and pulled out two Kumori headbands before she nervously said "Since both of you are going to represent Kumori, I would be honored if you would wear our headbands."

Naruto looked down at the headband which had a fox head half covered in shadow as the symbol of Kumori and said "Sure why not, it's only fitting that we wear the headbands of the village that we're representing. Right Haku-Chan?"

Haku got a smile on her face and said "You're right Naruto-kun, and besides I like their design."

As both of them tied the headband around their forehead Kushina bowed her head and said "Thank-you both for this, and good luck in there. I know you'll make us proud."

Naruto got a smile on his face when he heard this and nodded his head before both he and Haku entered the building.

After the door shut behind Naruto and Haku, Jiraiya turned to Tsunade and said "I think they'll pass with flying colors."

"I know they will Jiraiya, I know they will."

(Inside the Academy)

As Naruto and Haku got to the second floor they noticed a large group of people crowded around a door. Naruto got a confused look on his face, he then turned and looked at Haku before he said "Haku-Chan, we are on the second floor, right?"

"Hai Naruto-kun, and the exam takes place on the third floor in room 301." said Haku as she looked at the rabble of Genin up ahead.

"Then why are they….," said Naruto before his eyes widened in realization and then he lowered his voice and continued "Ah, I see now, it's a genjutsu."

Naruto then tapped Haku on the shoulder and gave her a few discreet hand signals that indicated that he wanted her to follow him. Haku nodded her head in understanding and followed Naruto as he headed to the stairwell at the end of the hall. But as Naruto and Haku got to the stairwell Naruto heard a very familiar voice say "Out of my way, and you might as well drop the genjutsu, while you're at it. I have business on the third floor."

Naruto turned around and saw Sasuke, Sakura, and another person who wore a grey shirt the stopped just above his stomach, a black jacket with one sleeve shorter than the other, black ANBU style pants and he carried a short sword on his back. He brought his hand up to his head as he thought _'MORON! Didn't he realize, that this was just a way of weeding out those that weren't ready for the exam!?'_

Naruto's was brought out of his thought when he heard one of the shinobi's that had been guarding the door say "So you figured it out, eh? Not bad. But just seeing through it, WON'T BE ENOUGH!!"

The shinobi then charged Sasuke and as both of them were going to kick each other, a green spandex wearing shinobi appeared between them at lightening speed and caught both of their kicks.

'_He's pretty fast, and he was able to stop both of those kicks like it was nothing. This exam, might be more fun than I thought.'_ thought Naruto as he watched a Hyuuga walk up to the green spandex shinobi.

As the Hyuuga tapped the green shinobi on the shoulder he said "Hey Lee, this isn't what we agreed too! Weren't you the one who insisted, that we don't draw attention to ourselves?"

"I know Neji, but…" said a blushing Lee as he turned to look at Sakura.

A girl wearing a Chinese style shirt and had her hair made up into two buns just shook her head as she said "Here we go again…, Honestly Lee you never change."

"Forget it Ten-Ten, let's just go, he'll catch up with us later." said Neji as he started to move toward the stairwell.

Ten-Ten just nodded her head before she said "You hear that Lee! You better hurry up, the exam starts in a few minute, and if you get us kicked out because you're late…"

Ten-Ten let the threat hang in the air, but Lee ignored her as he walked up to Sakura and said "Hi, my name is Rock Lee. You're Sakura right?"

When Lee saw Sakura nod her head he got into one of his poses and said "Would you go out with me? I swear, I'll protect you with my life."

When Naruto heard Lee say this he simply turned to Haku and said "OK…, I've seen enough. Let's get going Haku-Chan, we wouldn't want to be late now."

Haku just nodded her head and the continued through the door that lead to the stairwell. After they went up the stairs they started to walk over a balcony that overlooked the level below when Naruto saw Lee standing in front of them with his eyes focused on something below. _'What the HELL!? How did he get ahead of us?'_

Rock Lee tightened his grip on the railing, before he jumped over the edge and landed on the floor below. Naruto just shrugged his shoulders and continued to walk across the balcony until he heard a voice shout "Konoha Senpuu!"

Naruto reached the edge of the balcony in time to see Rock Lee's kick get through Sasuke's guard and make contact, knocking him across the room. As Sasuke hit the ground he looked at Rock Lee and thought _'What the…, I thought I blocked that.'_

When Sasuke got to his feet he started to channel chakra into his eyes and activated his Sharingan, he then charged Rock Lee. Sasuke got within a few feet of Lee, when he suddenly disappeared, but before Sasuke could even process that thought a foot nailed him right in the chin sending him skyward.

As Sasuke flew through the air Rock Lee appeared behind him and said "My moves are neither Ninjutsu, nor Genejutsu. They are strictly Taijutsu, which means, it doesn't matter that your eye can perceive and understand my movements, because your body's too weak to act."

"Now, let me show you a move of mine, that exceeds your genius completely!" said Lee as the wrappings on his right hand started to come undone.

Rock Lee was about to perform his move when suddenly a pinwheel came out of nowhere and tacked Lee's loose wrapping to the wall, which stopped him completely. As Lee got pulled away from Sasuke, both Naruto and Haku looked over in the direction the pinwheel came from only to see a turtle standing there as it shouted "THAT'S ENOUGH LEE!"

'_A summon? But then where is the person who summoned him?'_ thought Naruto as he scanned the area looking for any sign's of another shinobi.

As Lee landed safely on his feet Sakura ran over and caught Sasuke before he hit the ground. She then looked him up and down as she said "Sasuke-kun! Are you alright?"

Sasuke completely ignored Sakura and glared at Lee who was in a kneeling position in front of the turtle before he thought _'GRRR…,He just made a fool out of me! And to make matters worse, he's getting chewed out by a TURTLE! I can't believe I lost to that clown! But the next time we fight…'_

Meanwhile up on the balcony Naruto started to chuckle as he turned to Haku and said "I'm glad I didn't miss that. Aren't you Haku-Chan?"

"Indeed Naruto-kun, it seems that the great _Uchiha_, isn't as good as he wants others to believe. But I'm more concerned with this Lee character, if the rest of his team is as strong as him, then passing this exam might be a little harder, than we thought." said Haku as she leaned on the railing to get a better view of what was going on down below.

"I know, this exam is starting to look like, it'll be fun after all." said Naruto as he noticed an older version of Lee appear on top of the turtle.

This older version looked at all the shinobi present before he said "Ah, the exuberance of youth. It's good to see, that all of you are so full of it."

Without waiting for any kind of reply The older version of Lee pointed to the spot directly in front of him and said "Lee!"

Lee walked right up to the spot and said "Yes, what is it Gai-Sensei."

A moment later Gai's fist connected with Lee's face as Gai shouted "IDIOT! You know that that jutsu is forbidden, only to be used for that reason I told you about."

Lee looked up at his sensei with tears coming out of his eyes as he said "Gai-sensei… I… I…"

Gai knelt down beside Lee and put his hand on Lee's shoulder as he said "It's all right Lee! Mistakes and youth go hand in hand."

"Gai-Sensei, you are too kind!!" said a still crying Lee.

"That's enough Lee! Not one more word." said Gai as he enveloped Lee in a hug.

Lee returned the hug and said "Gai-sensei!!"

Naruto got a curious look on his face and pointed at the hugging pair before he looked at Haku and said "Are guys suppose to be that emotional towards each other?"

Haku just shrugged her shoulders before she said "I don't know. Zabuza-sama, and the others that use to work for him, never behaved like that."

"Alright…, let's get going then, we don't want to be late for the exams anyway." said Naruto as he and Haku turned away from the hugging pair and headed for the exam room.

As Naruto and Haku walked into the exam room they both looked around and noticed all the different types of shinobi that are here to take the exam. That's when Naruto noticed Hinata and her team standing off to one side, he tapped Haku on the shoulder and pointed to Hinata and said "Hey Haku-Chan, let go over there and see how Hinata's training been going."

"Sure Naruto-kun." said Haku as she nodded and they headed over towards Hinata.

Hinata had been talking to her teammates when her eyes widened and she started to fidget as she saw Naruto and Haku walk over. Hinata's teammates noticed her change in body language and the one wearing a hooded jacket and had a dog sitting on his head said "Hinata, you all right? Is something wrong?"

"N-no K-Kiba-kun, n-nothing's wrong." said Hinata as she started to poke her two index fingers together.

Kiba looked curiously at Hinata for a second before Naruto walked up to Hinata and said "Hey Hinata, how's it going?"

Kiba got in-between Naruto and Hinata and narrowed his eyes at Naruto before he said "And just who are you?"

Naruto returned the stare and said "Name's Naruto. I'm a friend of Hinata's. Just came over to see how her training with Anko-neechan is going. What's it to you?"

Hinata's eye got even wider and her mouth went slack from the shock of what Naruto just said as she thought _'He considers me a friend? Naruto-kun considers me a friend! I can't believe someone like Naruto-kun would find me worth of his friendship.'_

Hinata was brought out of her thoughts when her other team member tapped her on the shoulder and said "Hinata, didn't you hear me?"

Hinata shook her head before she looked at her other teammate and said "I-I'm sorry Shino-kun, w-what did you say?"

"I said, is what this man said true? Is he really your friend? And who is this 'Anko' person he's talking about?" asked Shino.

"H-Hai, Naruto-kun is a friend. A-And he's the one how was able to, c-convince A-Anko-sensei to help train me." said a meek Hinata.

Kiba turned to face Hinata with disbelief in his eyes as he said "What! You've been getting some extra training and you never told us! Why!?"

Hinata lowered her head and in a soft voice said "I-I'm sorry K-Kiba-kun, but Anko-sensei thought it was a good idea, i-if I really didn't tell anybody, a-and K-Kurenai-sensei agreed. S-So p-please don't tell anyone, e-especially my father."

"Wait! Even Kurenai-sensei knew?" said a shocked Kiba.

"I-I'm sorry, b-but K-Kurenai-sensei was there when A-Anko-sensei a-agreed to train me." said Hinata as she started to feel really bad about not telling her teammates about her extra training.

When Naruto saw the depressed look on Hinata's face he looked directly at Kiba and said "Hey! Lay off her ok. Hinata was just doing what she was told."

Kiba turned back to look at Naruto and said "Oh yeah? Who asked you? I'm just trying to find out why we weren't aloud to know that Hinata was getting some extra training."

"Give it a rest, she already told you, that her sensei told her to keep quiet about it. So, why don't you leave it at that." said Naruto.

"Why you!" shouted Kiba as he got in Naruto's face.

Hinata looked back and forth between Naruto and Kiba as she said "N-Now K-Kiba-kun, p-please calm down. I-I should have told both of you. I-I'm sorry, p-please don't fight."

"You should listen to her Kiba, you don't want to start something you can't finish." warned Naruto as he gave Kiba a harsh stare.

"Start something I can't finish? You must be joking, I was runner-up for rookie of the year. So you better watch your step, or you might get hurt." growled Kiba.

Naruto just looked at Kiba for a second before he said "Runner-up? So, who was rookie of the year?"

Before Kiba could answer a female voice was heard saying "Why Sasuke-kun of course."

Naruto turned around to see a blonde haired girl standing there with her two teammates before he said "Sasuke…? He's rookie of the year?"

When the blonde shook her head Naruto got a smile on his face as he started to chuckle before it turned to a full blown laugh and when he calmed down he said "You've got to be kidding me. There's no way he's rookie of the year. I've seen him fight, and I'm…"

Before Naruto could finish a boy with a pineapple like hairdo put his hand over Naruto's mouth as he said "Sshhh.. Are you trying to get us all killed?"

The boy then looked behind him as saw his blonde haired teammate boiling in rage before he let out a lazy sigh and said "Oh man, this is such a drag. Ino's going to be impossible to work with now."

The moment he finished saying that Ino moved closer to Naruto and shoved the pineapple haired boy out of the way before she shouted "Out of the way Shikamaru! You take that back! Sasuke-kun is the best shinobi to ever come out of Konoha!"

Naruto used his pinky finger to clean out his ear before he said "Man your loud, and about him being the best shinobi to ever come out of this village. Don't you think it's a bit early to be making that judgment. From my understanding, The Yondaime Hokage, is considered by many to be the greatest shinobi this village has ever produced."

"I… I… All right you have a point there, but that doesn't change the fact, that Sasuke-kun is still the best shinobi to come out of the Academy this year." said an embarrassed Ino.

"We'll see." said Naruto as he crossed his arms over his chest.

Meanwhile in another corner of the room three figures watched on. One was a light brown almost blonde haired boy by the name of NiYal. He was wearing a slightly modified brown battle robe, standard shinobi pants with shin guards and regular shinobi sandals, he also had a katana strapped to his back. NiYal rested his back against the wall as he said "So that's Naruto-sama, huh?"

A girl with ocean blue hair braded into a low ponytail who went by the name Tsunami, who wore a blue Chinese style sleeveless blouse with a dark blue sleeveless robe that stopped about halfway between her hip and knee, she also had shin guards and shinobi sandals, she looked over at NiYal and said "It seems so, but do you really think he's as good as we've heard?"

"Judging by the way he's sensing his surroundings, I'd say he quite skilled." said a redheaded girl by the name of Anika, she had a hairstyle similar to Anko's, and wore a black leather jacket, a dark brown mini skirt and she also had shin guards on top of a pair of black boots.

"What do you mean?" asked NiYal.

"Just watch." said Anika as she channeled a small amount of chakra through one of the tags she placed in the room earlier.

NiYal watched Naruto closely that's when he noticed Naruto dart his eyes over in the direction of the tag, and searched the area for a couple of seconds before he returned his eyes back toward the group he was with. NiYal just whistled before he said "I see what you mean, I barely felt that, so he's got to have his senses on full alert. Man, it's too bad that the other team got held up, they're going to miss one hell of a show."

"Don't forget what Akira-sensei told us NiYal, the main reason we're here now is to keep an eye on Naruto-sama. Sensei said we have to make sure no one tries anything funny during the exam." said Tsunami.

NiYal returned his gaze toward Naruto before he said "I know that already, but that still doesn't change the fact, that I want to see just how strong Naruto-sama is."

Just then the door opened and Sasuke and his team entered. Sasuke took one look around the room and stopped on Naruto, his eyes narrowed as he thought _'You loser, I'm not the same as before. So, I'm going to make you pay for the humiliation you gave me.'_ "Heh, so the dobe decided to apply after all. This exams isn't for kids, here you'll see what it's like to be a real shinobi."

"Oh yeah? Then maybe you should give up now Sasuke-teme, it looks like this will be too much for you." said Naruto as he smirked at Sasuke.

Sasuke just gritted his teeth and glared at Naruto but before he could give any kind of retort back a voice Naruto thought he would never hear again said "Would you guys just shut up, before someone snaps and beats the crap out of you."

Naruto's head quickly snapped in the direction of the voice and when he saw Kabuto, he moved at top speed and slammed him into the wall while he said "How the HELL did you survive!"

Kabuto just smirked before he said "Really Naruto-kun, I can't believe that you've underestimated my healing ability to this extent."

Naruto slammed Kabuto against the wall again and said "Well then, this time I'll make sure you wouldn't be able to heal yourself!"

"Are you sure you want to cause a scene here Naruto-kun? I am a Konoha shinobi after all, and considering your popularity with the populous. Who do you think they would side with if there was an altercation at this point in time?" said Kabuto as he pointed to his headband and his smirk returned bigger than ever.

'_They may not believe me, but I know someone that they would believe.' _After a few moments of silence Naruto gritted his teeth and dropped Kabuto to the ground and said "Fine, have it your way, for now. But, I will get you before this exam is over."

As Naruto turned around and walked back towards Haku, all the genin in the vicinity of the two looked at Naruto and wondered what that was all about while Kabuto just adjusted his glasses and said "We'll just see about that Naruto-kun."

Once Naruto reached Haku he could see the confused look on her face as she asked "Naruto-Kun, isn't he the same guy we saw with Orochimaru back in Tanzuku Town?"

Naruto glared back at Kabuto and said "Yeah that's the bastard that attacked us in Tanzuku Town."

"What should we do? Since he's a spy for Orochimaru…" said Haku as she glared at Kabuto for a second before she turned back towards Naruto and when she saw him write a note and asked "What are you doing?"

"Just taking care of some unfinished business, and WE aren't going to do anything, yet." said Naruto as he did a few discreet hand signs and summoned a small slug.

Naruto handed the slug the note and said "Give this to Kaasan and no one else. Understood?"

"Hai Naruto-sama." said the small slug as it disappeared in a puff of smoke.

The moment the slug disappeared Naruto heard Kabuto respond to Shikamaru's question about their encounter "Well, lets just say, we run across each other in the past."

"I could careless, about your encounter with that loser. I want to know what you were talking about earlier." said Sasuke as he walked right up to Kabuto.

Kabuto just looked a Sasuke before he said "What I was walking about earlier? Oh, you mean about shutting up, before some one beats the crap out of you. Well just look around everyone's on edge waiting for the exam to start, so, it won't take much to set them off."

"Kabuto?" said a meek Sakura and when she saw him look in her direction and nod his head she continued with "With the way you've been talking, I take it you've taken this exam before?"

"Yeah, but actually this is my seventh time taking this exam." said Kabuto as he reached into his pouch and pulled out a pack of cards.

Kabuto put one of the cards on the ground and said "Since all of you are so green, I'll give you a little heads up with these Nin-Info cards. See here, this card, shows you the number of applicants each country sent to participate in the Chunin Exams."

As everyone looked at the card Sasuke looked over at Kabuto and asked "Do these cards also show personal information?"

"You mean like dossiers?" asked Kabuto and when he saw Sasuke nod his head he got a smile on his face and continued "It may not be complete, but I've burned a complete set of cards for everyone of the applicants."

Sasuke got a serious look on his face as he said "Then show me, Gaara of the desert, Rock Lee…, and Uzumaki Naruto."

Everyone looked at Sasuke in shock as Kabuto pulled out the first card and said "So, you know their names huh? That makes it too easy. Ok, first we have Gaara of the desert, lets see, he's done eight C-ranked missions and one B-rank. Now this is impressive, he's apparently gone through every mission unscathed. Next is Rock Lee, well he's a year older than you, and he has done 20 D-ranked missions, and 11 C-ranked ones. His sensei is Maito Gai, and he excels at Taijutsu, his Ninjutsu and Genejutsu skill is unknown, for he has never been seen using any. His teammates are a Hyuuga named Neji and a weapon specialist named Ten-Ten."

Kabuto then pulled out another card and channeled his chakra into it, but before he could show the others Naruto grabbed the card and looked it over.

Sasuke got a pissed off look on his face as he said "What's the matter loser, afraid we'll see that you're not all you say you are."

Naruto just ignored Sasuke and continued to look over the card. Once he finished he looked over at Kabuto and thought _'What the hell? This card barely shows anything, it doesn't talk about Baa-Chan, or any of my more powerful Jutsu. Just what are you playing at Kabuto?'_

'_Heh, wondering why I'm keeping your secret, eh Naruto-kun?'_ thought Kabuto as Naruto handed him back the card. Kabuto then showed everyone the card and said "Uzumaki Naruto, also known as 'The Hero of Wave', is an orphan of Konoha, who was believed to have been killed on his fifth birthday. But instead was saved by non other than Tsunade of The Sannin, who took him in as her own and trained him to be a Shinobi. While not an official shinobi of any village, the leader of Kumori asked him to represent them after he assisted your team in the A-ranked mission in Wave. Not much is known about his abilities, but since he was trained by one of The Sannin, one can expect him to put up quite a fight."

Ino looked over curiously at Naruto before she asked "Hero of Wave?"

Naruto just shrugged his shoulders and said "Must be when I helped saved their bridge front Gato's thugs."

"That's not all you did Naruto-kun, because of your actions, you were able to free them from a tyrannical criminal who was repressing them, and restored that countries hope." said Haku as she got a smile on her face as she remembered the events in Wave.

"Wait, wait just a minute here, are you telling us that this guy, is responsible for freeing a repressed country?" asked Ino as she pointed directly at Naruto.

Before Haku could say anything else Naruto interrupted with "Well, I wouldn't say that I was the one responsible, I mean I didn't kill Gato or anything, all I did was help protect old man Tazuna, and keep his bridge from being destroyed. The Kumori Shinobi Shadow, was the one to kill Gato and the rest of his men."

"But Naruto-kun, aren't you forgetting the fact that Shadow not only killed Gato, but the rest of his men as an apology for his teammates actions earlier." said Haku.

Naruto just looked over at Haku as he said "Well yes, but that doesn't make me a hero or anything."

As everyone in the group looked at Naruto, Sasuke clinched his fist and glared at Naruto before he said "You just got lucky, if I hadn't been caught off guard, than I would have been that Countries hero instead of a loser like you."

Naruto turned and looked Sasuke right in the eyes as he said "Caught of guard? From what I was told about your battle with Haku-Chan here, you were getting your ass handed to you six ways to Sunday."

"I had her on the ropes until she pulled off that desperation Jutsu of hers. Now that I know about that Jutsu, I won't lose again." said Sasuke as he glared at Haku.

Haku narrowed her eyes at Sasuke as she said "Had me on the ropes? Please, you didn't even lay a finger on me. I only used that Jutsu because I wanted to see what it was capable of."

"That's a lie! Like Sasuke-kun said, he was winning that fight until you used that cheap Jutsu of yours!" shouted an irate Sakura.

"No Jutsu is cheap if it gets the job done." said a serious Naruto as he turned his gaze toward Sakura.

Just then a large plume of smoke appeared in the front of the classroom and a voice shouted "WOULD YOU ALL PLEASE JUST SHUT-UP!?"

When the smoke cleared a large group of shinobi could be seen, the man that stood in the front said "Sorry to keep you all waiting. I'm Morino Ibiki, and I'm the proctor for the first part of the Chunin Exams. Now I think it's time we set a few ground rule for the rest of the exam. First, there will be no fighting without the express permission of a proctor, and when there is a fight, and believe me there will be, anything that endangers the life of another applicant is strictly forbidden. Anyone caught breaking these rules will be disqualified. GOT THAT!"

When no one gave any objections Ibiki continued "All right, the first part of the exam is about to begin, so everyone take your assigned seat. Now before we hand out the written part of the test, I'll go over the rules that pertain to this test. First all students start out with ten points for each wrong answer a point will be deducted and when you lose all your points you and your team fail, this is a team event after all. Now if anyone is caught cheating than two points will be deducted from everyone in your team. So, if any of you want to be a Chunin, then I suggest you start acting like it."

An eerie silence followed this as every single Genin in the room took in what Ibiki just said. Naruto simply looked around the room and saw all the nervous faces before he thought _'Nice, he's already messing with our heads, and making us panic so we don't think clearly and see through this trick. I might have fallen for it too, if this wasn't one of Anko-neechan favorite ploys. I wonder if they know each other?'_

Ibiki looked around the room to gauge the reaction of each and every applicant, but when he looked at Naruto, he saw a calm face as if he knew what was coming. He looked down at the seating chart and thought _'Uzumaki Naruto huh? I wonder is this the 'Gaki' Anko warned me about?'_

(Flashback- yesterday at a dango shop)

Ibiki walked into The Dango Shop and found Anko at the counter munching on some dango. He walked over and sat down beside her before he said "The Chunin Exams are scheduled for tomorrow, I wonder how many of them are going to make it past the first part?"

Anko never took her eyes off of her sake bottle as she said "I don't know, but I can guarantee, that at least one team will make it through your little test Ibiki."

"Oh? And just who might they be?" asked a curious Ibiki.

"The Gaki and his teammate Haku of course. There a two person cell that will be representing Kumori tomorrow." said Anko as she swirled her sake around a bit before she took a sip.

"A two person cell? That's not possible, all cells must have a team of three to participate." said a confused Ibiki.

Anko just turned her head and looked at Ibiki as she said "You didn't hear? The committee put that restriction on him the first chance they got."

"The committee? But I thought Hokage-sama had the final say on something like that?" said Ibiki as he looked at Anko.

Anko took another sip of her sake and said "Apparently, that only applies to the shinobi of this village. All decisions in regards to foreign shinobi are made by taking a vote of the four committee members."

Ibiki just shook his head before he looked at his own sake bottle and said "Man that sucks, but what makes you so sure that he'll pass my part of the exam?"

"Simple, if you try and use your usual head games with him, than you'll end up the loser. I've used them on him so much that he comes to expect them. So he's more than ready for your psychological warfare." said Anko as she finished up the last of her dango.

Ibiki took a sip of his own sake before he said "So, are you going to tell me this Gaki's name."

"Nope, but you'll know him when you see the look in his eyes." said Anko as she paid for her dango and then got up and left, with a perplexed Ibiki still seated at the counter.

(End Flashback)

'_Well Naruto it looks like Anko was right about you.'_ thought Ibiki as he saw the look of determination in his eyes. Ibiki then turned his attention back to the entire class as the last of the papers were handed out and said "You have one hour starting … NOW!"

Next Chapter: The First Exam: Ibiki's Psychological Warfare.

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Author's note2: Well that council meeting went longer than I thought it would, so I hope you liked how I had it played out. I also want to tell you that I plan to have an Orochimaru and Anko fight in Chapter 18.

Now here are the poll results:

Lightening: 45

Metal: 27

Fire: 18

Earth: 18

Darkness: 17

Well I'll be ending the poll after the next chapter. But I want to tell you all that Naruto will have five main Elements total two of them are the result of having Kyuubi sealed into him and one of those he will only be able to use to it's full potential with Kyuubi's chakra, while the other one will combine with one of the other elements to create a strong sub-element. So I hope to see you all here next time.


	17. Ibiki’s Psychological Warfare

-1

"Speech"

'_Thoughts'_

**Demon/Summon/inner Sakura speech**

_**Demon/Summon thoughts**_

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or any of the characters created by Kishimoto, but all OC's are my own creation.

BrownBag51: To answer your first question no Naruto won't fight Orochimaru in front of the rookies, but that doesn't mean they won't fight. Now as for your second question Kakashi doesn't know Naruto is his Sensei's son, but he will find this out by the end of the Chunin Exams. Now as for your last question Naruto already knows the Rasengan, he learned it back in Chapter 12. So he'll be able to use it against Sasuke's Chidori when they fight.

Narutomaniac: Thanks for pointing out that little typo. Now to address your concerns about the other Rookies, but first I think I should explain Naruto and Haku's statements first. You see they thought this test would be really easy and boring, considering the fact that they have already faced Shinobi of a higher caliber, so when they saw Lee and the amount of ability he has, they realized that it won't be that easy and that they might have some fun when fighting there opponents. Now as for Shinobi that will actually put up a fight, I have three of them, and they are Gaara of course, Kabuto and Sai.

Kingkakashi: I can tell you that yes Sakura will be taught a very important lesson in humility during the Chunin Exams.

SylvanSpirit: Yep Sasuke will still get the curse seal, that fight will be a little different since Naruto isn't a part of team seven though.

Final T-Yoko: To answer your questions A: The events with Orochimaru won't be the exact same seeing as how Naruto isn't part of team 7. B: The Suna/Oto invasion is still going to happen, although I do plan to have Naruto and Gaara fight it out inside the village itself. (It will start in the Area and work its way out into the village) C: The Kumori team will have their first interaction with Naruto in the forest of death, I can't tell you any more, because I haven't completely worked it out yet, but I'm hoping you'll find it interesting.

Authors Note: Well we're finally at the Chunin Exams and I hope you like my take on it. I'm just giving you a little heads up that some of the fights in the prelims are going to be different, Haku will fight Sakura, Naruto will not fight Kiba; Kiba will fight an OC and so on. I also plan on going through every fight in the prelims and won't skip over any.

Now on with the story

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Chapter 17: The First Exam. Ibiki's Psychological Warfare.

(Jonin Waiting Area)

Tsunade was seated on a couch in a relaxed position, her arms were outstretched and her head was tilted upward. As she stared at the ceiling she let out a sigh and thought _'This is so boring, the least they could do, is offer us some sake while we wait.'_

Just then Akira walked up to Tsunade and tapped her on the shoulder before she said "Excuse me Tsunade-sama."

Tsunade tilted her head in the direction of the voice and when she saw Akira her eyes widened as she remembered Shizune's description of the person that attacked her back in Wave. She looked at Akira for a second before she narrowed her eyes and said "You're one of the Shinobi that attacked us in Wave."

Akira got a regretful look on her face before she bowed and said "Please forgive me Tsunade-sama. I'm really sorry about that, but I was under orders from our team leader, to give Shadow enough time so he could ascertain Naruto-sama's true identity."

Tsunade searched Akira's eyes to see if she was telling the truth and after a few moments of this she said "I'll think about it, Shizune did say that you refused to fight Naru-Chan the moment he appeared."

The minute Tsunade finished those words a slug suddenly appeared on her lap. As she got a curious expression on her face the slug answered her unasked question when it said "Tsunade-sama, Naruto-sama, asked me to deliver this message to you, and only you."

The slug then handed Tsunade Naruto's note before it disappeared in a puff of smoke. Tsunade the opened the note and read the contents.

**Kaasan, I've just discovered that the shinobi that the snake freak sent to attack us is participating in the exam, and as a Konoha shinobi nonetheless. I've also discover that he goes by the name Kabuto. When I confronted him, he brought up a good point about the fact that nobody would believe me if I said he was a spy. So I need you to talk to the old man and get him to deal with this bastard. I'm giving them this one chance to do the right thing. If the old man is unable to do anything about him than let me know and I'll take care of him at some point during the next to stages of the exam. **

**Naruto**

Tsunade crumbled the note in her hand as she said "That bastard Orochimaru! Is he after Naru-Chan again?"

Akira got a concerned look on her face as she said "Tsunade-sama? What's going on?"

Tsunade got to her feet and as she made her way to the waiting room door she said "It's Orochimaru, he was able to get a spy in the exams. It's the same one that attacked Naru-Chan in Tanzuku Town, and he could be after Naru-Chan again. I have to talk to Sarutobi-sensei."

As Tsunade reached the door an ANBU guard blocked her path and said "I'm sorry Tsunade-sama, but you know the rules. All Jonin-sensei's must wait here until the second exam starts."

"I'm well aware of that, but something important has come to my attention and I need to talk to Sarutobi-sensei now. So if you won't bring him to me, I'll just force my way through and go find him myself." said Tsunade as she cracked her knuckles to emphasize her point.

When the ANBU guard saw Tsunade crack her knuckles he turned to another ANBU guard and said "Go get Hokage-sama, and bring him here A.S.A.P. If he asks, tell him that Tsunade-sama said it was urgent."

"Hai." said the second ANBU guard as he used Shunshin no Jutsu to go and get the Hokage.

Meanwhile Akira discreetly made her way to the widow that was on the far side of the room. After she quickly checked the surrounding area she looked out of the window and in a low tone of voice she said "Shadow, are you still there?"

"Yeah I'm here. What's going on?" said Shadow as he leaned against the wall right next to the window.

Akira once again checked her surroundings before she said "It's Orochimaru, apparently he's slipped a spy into the exams, and Tsunade-sama's worried that he might be targeting Naruto-sama again."

"Again?"

"I don't know the full story, all I know is that he attacked them in Tanzuku Town before Kushina-sensei found them."

"I'll go and inform Kushina-sensei about this. If this spy is after Naruto-sama, I'll take care of him myself." said Shadow as he sank into the shadows to go and find Kushina.

(A Pub Somewhere in Konoha)

Kushina and Jiraiya were seated at a table having a drink together. After Kushina took a sip of her sake she said "Jiraiya, do you think that Naruto-kun, will every care for me like he does Tsunade-sama, and the other members of his family."

"Give it some time Kushina, it's only been a few weeks since you first met. I'm sure Naruto doesn't know what to feel right now." said Jiraiya as he looked into his sake bottle before he took a drink.

Kushina raised her head and turned to face Jiraiya before she said "I know that! It's just…, I see how close he is to Tsunade-sama, and I feel a great sense of lose. I should have been there for him when he was little. I should have been there when he needed me!"

As tears started to come down her face, Jiraiya got a sympathetic look on his face and put his hand on her shoulder before he said "You couldn't have known that they lied to you, and besides it's not like they gave you anytime to think about it either. They did force you out of the village right after the sealing, and didn't really give you time to think things through. I'm sure Naruto understands this and will eventually forgive you. So don't worry about it."

Kushina wiped the tears from her eyes as she said "That maybe true Jiraiya, but I don't think I'll ever be able to forgive myself."

Just then Shadow appeared and did a slight bow before he said "Kushina-sensei, sorry for the interruption, but Tsunade-sama just received some troubling news from Naruto-sama. Apparently Orochimaru, was able to slip a spy into the exams, and not just any spy, but the same person that attacked Naruto-sama in Tanzuku Town."

"What!? You can't be serious! Is security really that lacks around here?" said Kushina as she stood up and looked at Shadow before she continued "Shadow, we're going to the Academy. If Orochimaru's spy is there, then we'll deal with him, before he can do anything to Naruto-kun."

"Hold on there Kushina, we don't know what this spy is after. So, why don't you let me, and the ANBU handle this one? I'll make sure nothing happens to Naruto, OK?" said Jiraiya as he got up and waited for Kushina's response.

Kushina looked Jiraiya straight in the eyes and said "Fine, I'll wait until we find out what he's after, but if he is after Naruto-kun..., then all bets are off."

"That's all I'm asking, and when the first exam is over, why don't you wait in your old home, since they are using that training area for the second part of the exam." said Jiraiya as he headed off toward the Academy.

Once Jiraiya was out of sight Kushina turned toward Shadow and said "Shadow, I'm giving you a new mission. I want you to find out what this spy is really doing here."

Shadow got a curious look on his face before he said "Hai, Kushina-sensei, but won't you be going back on your word if I do this?"

"No I won't, I told Jiraiya I wouldn't do anything until WE find out what he's after. I never said I wouldn't launch my own investigation. Now get going, I don't want anything to happen to Naruto-kun while we sit here and talk about this matter." said Kushina as she turned her gaze toward the Academy.

Shadow nodded his head and started to get ready to leave when Kushina suddenly turned and looked at him before she said "Oh and Shadow, if this spy is after Naruto-kun, I want him taken out. Understood?"

"Hai." was all Shadow said as he bowed his head and dissolved into the shadows.

After Shadow left Kushina returned her gaze back toward the Academy and thought _'Orochimaru, are you after my son…, or is it something else?'_

(Back at the Academy)

Naruto had just finished reading over the test and thought _'How the hell do they expect Genin, to answer all of these questions without cheating? Unless…, that's it! This is all about intelligence gathering, I've got to let Haku-Chan know.'_

After Naruto did a few discreet hand seals he summoned another small slug, he then handed it a note and signaled that he wanted the slug to give the note to Haku, the slug nodded in understanding before it took the note and then disappeared in a puff of smoke.

When Haku finished looking over the test she suddenly felt something crawl out of her sleeve. She then looked at her arm she saw a slug crawl down onto the desk. Once it saw that it had Haku's attention it put the note down and disappeared in a puff of smoke.

Haku looked at the spot the slug was at for a moment before she turned her gaze toward the note it left behind. She opened the small piece of paper and read the contents.

**Haku-Chan I take it by now, you've figured out that the true purpose of this exam is to gather the answers without getting caught. So, I suggest we use your ice mirrors in combination with my summons to get the answers we need. Think about it, I'll have my summons place your mirrors in strategic places so we both finish this test in record time, and if your worried about getting caught, I plan on using a Genjutsu Ero-sennin taught me, so that they won't be able to see the mirrors. If you want to go along with this plan than just lower the temperature in the room a few degrees. **

**Naruto**

With a smile on her face Haku channeled her chakra and lowered the temperature to let Naruto know her answer.

Naruto also got a smile on his as he felt the temperature drop. He then went about summoning enough slugs to get the job done while Haku created the mirrors they would need.

Meanwhile Ibiki was seated in the front when he suddenly felt a chill in the air. _'What's going on? I thought I told them that I wanted it hot and muggy, before I started with the noise. Wait, could someone be using their chakra to create this cold?'_

Ibiki looked around the room to see if anything was out of the ordinary. That's when he noticed the smiles on both Naruto and Haku as they were busy working on the papers in front of them. Curious about their smiles he started to look around the room with a more critical eye. As the temperature started to rise he finished his inspection and the only thing Ibiki noticed was the presence of a Genjutsu. So he got a smile on his face as he shrugged his shoulders and thought _'Heh, I'm impressed, he's using a Genjutsu, to cover his tracks and keep us guessing on what he's doing. Anko was right, he is better than I thought.' _

Just then a constant buzzing started up, while it wasn't loud, it was quite annoying. After a few minutes of this one of the Genin shouted "I can't take it any more! It's too damn hot and muggy in here! Not to mention that buzzing noise is driving me crazy!"

Ibiki just looked at the Genin and in a serious tone of voice said "Shut-up and sit down! You're a shinobi, so start acting like one! If you shout out like that again you and your entire team will be disqualified. Got it!"

Ibiki's hard gaze caused the Genin to cringe and he quickly sat back down and went to work. As this was going on Naruto looked on with an amused expression before he thought '_Damn Ibiki-san, you're just as bad as Anko-neechan, but at least she uses real weapons when she attacks a person. You on the other hand, like to use a person's own mind against them. I can't wait to see how many of them survive.'_

So as time wore on many of the Genin were eliminated until it finally reached the last fifteen minutes of the Exam. Ibiki stood up from his chair and looked the room over before he thought _'Ok forty-five minutes have passed, so we've already gotten ride of all the slackers. I think it's time I asked them the tenth question.'_ "Listen up everyone! It time for the tenth question."

As everyone's attention was brought to the front Ibiki turned to his left but never broke eye contact with the Genin. He brought his hand up to his face as he said "BUT, before we get to that, I'm adding one more rule."

As Ibiki looked at the shocked expressions of the Genin a smirk appeared on his face as he said "This rule however…, is absolute. But first, you must choose to either accept the question…, or reject it."

This puzzled the group of applicants and they pondered over this until Temari finally voiced what everyone was thinking "C-Choose? So, what happens if we decide to not answer the tenth question?"

Ibiki's smirk got even bigger as he said "Simple really, you forfeit all of your remaining points, and you and your teammates fail."

'_What's he playing at, if that is the punishment for refusing the second question, then why would anyone reject the question. There's got to be more to it, but what?'_ thought Naruto.

But before he could figure it out he heard a couple of Genin shout "W-What?! Then why would anyone reject the question?!"

With a serious look on his face Ibiki said "Because, of the other rule. If you try to answer the question and get it wrong. Then you will be barred from ever taking the Chunin Exams for the rest of your life."

'_Is that all? I figured that there would be some threat of torture of something. I guess I've been hanging around Anko-neechan to long, I'm starting to expect torture as the worst case scenario.'_ thought Naruto as he noticed the other Genin were quite disturbed by this proclamation.

That's when Kiba shot up from his chair and shouted "YOU CAN'T BE SERIOUS! We already know that there are other Genin here who have taken the exam more than once! So, there's no way you can make a rule like that!"

"Heh, heh, heh, heh, heh. It's just your pitiful luck that I'm in charge of making the rules this year. Now I've been honest and truthful with you. So now you must choose, you can take a failing grade and try again later, or you could risk it all and hope you answer the question right. So, if any of you have any doubts, then come back and apply next time, and the time after that." said Ibiki as he looked at all of the concerned Genin, and that was when he noticed Naruto's calm face. _'Doesn't anything faze this kid?'_

After Ibiki looked around the room again he said "Ready? Then let's begin. Those who don't want to take the last question raise your hand now, and once your number has been confirmed, you and your teammates will leave."

A hush fell over the group of Genin as they contemplated the situation. That's when one of the Genin raised his hand and quit, a few minutes later there was another and then another. As Genin started to drop like flies Naruto looked around the room to see how Haku and Hinata were holding up. As he looked at Haku she returned the gaze and just nodded her head to let him know she was good.

But when Naruto looked over at Hinata he saw her hand twitch slightly, which told him that Hinata's improved confidence was starting to fail her. _'Damn, I should have known these head games were too much for her. I have to do something before she quits and starts to see herself as a failure again.'_

Without a moments hesitation Naruto raised his arm into the air before he slammed it back down on the desk in front of him and shouted "DON'T GIVE ME THAT SHIT! I DON"T QUIT, AND I DON"T BACKDOWN! So, I'll take your damn question!"

Ibiki looked at the determination in Naruto's eyes and in a serious tone of voice said "Are you sure? This is a decision that will affect the rest of your life, so you might want to quit now while you still have the chance."

"I never go back on my word! Besides, I haven't lived this long by playing it safe. In our line of work, we can't always choose the safe path." said a fiercely determined Naruto.

Ibiki looked around the room and noticed that all of the remaining Genin before he thought _'Seventy-eight left huh. Anko, that Gaki of yours, sure is an interesting one. He was able to dispel the fear that everyone had, but the question is. Why?_ (Ibiki closed his eyes and let out a sigh)_ It doesn't really matter anyway, because of his actions there's no point in dragging this out any longer. It's more than I expected, but I doubt anyone will quit now.'_ "Very well. Now, everyone that is still here…, you all just passed the first part of the Chunin exams!"

This stunned the entire room into silence until Sakura said "W-we passed? What do you mean we passed? What about the tenth question?"

Ibiki got a huge grin on his face as he said "Well, the wholt accept or reject thing, was the tenth question."

Naruto also got a smile on his face as he leaned back in his chair and said "I thought as much."

"Hey wait a minute here! If we all passed, then why did we have to suffer through the other nine questions?! That was a total waste of our time!" shouted Temari as she slammed her hands down on her desk.

Ibiki looked directly at Temari and said "It wasn't a waste of time, the purpose of the paper test, was to test your ability at SPYING!"

Temari got a confused look on her face as she said "…our ability at spying?"

It was at this point Naruto spoke up "That's right, they wanted to see how well we could gather information without getting caught. In the shinobi world, if you get caught, you're as good as dead."

"Not only that, but you can pay in ways that are taken from you little by little, and it could even cost you the lives of your team and anyone counting on you to get the job done." said Ibiki as he took off his headband to reveal his scared head.

Once he new everyone had a good look at it he put his headband back on and said "Congratulations on passing the first hurdle, but don't kid yourselves it's only going to get harder from here."

"Good, I was starting to get a little bored." said Naruto as he leaned back to watch the upcoming show.

Ibiki just shook his head as he thought _'Yep, he's definitely spent too much time with Anko.'_

The moment Ibiki finished those thoughts Anko smashed through the window and threw two kunai into the ceiling, which displayed her banner Mitarashi Anko! Second Proctor of the Chunin Exams!

Anko thrust her fist into the air and shouted "It's too early to be celebrating now! I'm Mitarashi Anko, and I'm the second proctor of the Chunin Exam's! All right everyone FOLLOW ME!!"

The room went silent as Naruto just shook his head and said "That was lame Anko-neechan, it was better with the explosive tags."

"I'd have to agree with Naruto-kun, Anko-san, the explosive tags added a bit more flash to your entrance." said Haku as she nodded her head in agreement with Naruto.

Anko just slumped her shoulders and lowered her head as she said "I know, I know, it sucks, but Hokage-sama said I couldn't use any kind of explosive ordinates inside the Academy."

After a few moments of depression Anko lifted her head and noticed all of the surviving Genin. She then turned to face Ibiki and said "Ibiki! You passed twenty-six teams? You must be getting soft in your old age."

Ibiki just shrugged his shoulders and said "We've got an exceptional crop this time around. Besides you should blame that little Gaki of yours, he can be quite inspirational, when he wants to be."

"Oh really? Well, I'll cut your crop of exceptional applicant in half, by the time the second part is over." said Anko as she got a sinister grin on her face and started to rub her hands together before she continued "I'm getting charged just thinking about it. Everyone follow me! I'll explain the second part of the exam once we get to our next destination."

(Just outside the Jonin Waiting Room)

When Sarutobi reached the waiting room he reached for the door knob when Jiraiya suddenly appeared beside him and said "Sarutobi-sensei, we need to talk."

"It will have to wait Jiraiya, Tsunade has an urgent matter she wishes to discuss with Me." said Sarutobi as he put his hand on the doorknob.

Just before he turned the doorknob he heard a voice shout "That's it! I've wasted enough of time here!"

Sarutobi then saw a figure walk up to the door as a feeling of dread filled his being. He released the doorknob and moved out of the way just as Tsunade kicked the door, and sent it flying across the hallway. It hit the far wall with a loud crack before it fell to the ground. Sarutobi looked at the demolished door and said "Tsunade, was that really necessary?"

When Tsunade heard Sarutobi's voice she turned to face him before she said "It's about time you got here! We don't have anytime to waste, one of Orochimaru's spies has infiltrated the exams. We need to capture him, before he can accomplish his mission."

"Whoa, hang on there a second Tsunade. Now what is this about a spy?" said a confused Sarutobi.

"Naru-Chan, he sent me a message and informed me that the one of Orochimaru's spies entered the exam as a Konoha Shinobi, and to make matters worse it's the same one that attacked us in Tanzuku Town." said Tsunade as she looked Sarutobi straight in the eyes.

"Are you sure Tsunade? That person was hit by the Rasengan after all, there's no way he could have survived, with the amount of power Naruto put into it." said a very concerned Jiraiya.

A look of shock crossed Sarutobi's face as he learned of Naruto's ability use the Rasengan, but before he could say anything Tsunade simply said "I know it doesn't make any since Jiraiya, but Naru-Chan was the only one to clearly see the attacker, and he said that it was the same person."

Sarutobi picked this point to interrupt "Tsunade, did Naruto tell you the name of this spy?"

"Yes he did, the spy goes by the name of Kabuto."

Sarutobi immediately summoned a Chunin messenger and was about to give him his orders when Ibiki walked up to them. Ibiki looked at everyone and asked "What's going on? Did one of the Jonin Sensei's cause some trouble?"

Jiraiya turned to face Ibiki as he said "Something like that, but more importantly, is the first exam over already?"

"Yes, I was just on my way to inform the Jonin Sensei's, which teams made it to the second part of the exam."

"Shit! That means they're already at Training Ground 44! We have to hurry, if Kabuto gets into the forest, who knows what he'll do!" said Tsunade as she turned toward Sarutobi.

Sarutobi remained silent for a few seconds before he looked over at the ANBU guard still standing by the door and said "I want three ANBU sent to the forest immediately, they're to bring Kabuto, and his team in for questioning. Ibiki! I want you to take their Sensei in for questioning as well, if one of them is a spy, then the others might be as well."

"Hai, Hokage-sama." said Ibiki as he went into the waiting room to detain the sensei, while the ANBU just bowed and headed of towards ANBU Headquarters to gather the necessary Shinobi.

After that was taken care of Sarutobi turned to Tsunade before he said "Don't worry Tsunade, we'll make sure to apprehend this spy before he accomplishes anything. So, why don't you just head to the tower and wait for Naruto to complete the second part of the exam."

Tsunade turned to look at Sarutobi and with a slight smile on her face said "So, you're that sure now, that Naru-Chan will finish the second part of exam, huh?"

"Well after the Itachi incident, and with his ability to use the Rasengan. I'd say he stands a very good chance of passing this exam in record time." said Sarutobi as he gave a slight wave before he turned around and started to walk back toward his office.

After Sarutobi was out of sight Jiraiya walked over to Tsunade before he said "He's right Tsunade, you don't need to worry, Naruto has faced this opponent before. So he knows this spy's strength's and weaknesses, I'm sure that he won't fall for the same trick twice."

Tsunade nodded her head slightly as she said "I know that Jiraiya, it's just…, I been thinking, if Orochimaru is really after Naru-Chan, then why send the same person after him again? He already failed once, and I doubt that Orochimaru is that forgiving of failure. So, he has to be after something else, but the question is, what is it?"

(Training Ground 44)

Anko looked at the dense forest behind the fence for a moment before she got a sinister grin on her face and turned to face the applicants as she said "This is where you'll be taking the second part of the exam, It's called Training Ground 44, but it is also known by another name, and that is The FOREST OF DEATH!!"

When the Genin heard this many started to get nervous, and that's when Sakura said "That place looks really creepy."

"Heh, Heh, Just wait, soon you'll see first hand why the call it The Forest of Death." said Anko as she let her menacing grin get even bigger, which frightened many of the Genin.

Naruto got a curious look on his face as he tilted his head slightly to the left and said "And knowing you the way I do, can I assume that means, that we have to deal with giant killer bugs, man eating plants, all kinds of large predators, quicksand, and other such dangerous terrain. Heh, sounds like it's going to be fun."

As the other Genin looked at Naruto like he was crazy, Anko just got a sweet smile on her face before she mockingly said "Fun huh?"

Anko's sweet smile never left her face as she jerked her wrist, which caused a kunai to pop out of her sleeve, she then threw the kunai directly at Naruto.

Naruto didn't even flinch as the kunai nicked his cheek and landed in the middle of a group of shinobi that hailed from Kusagakure no Sato.

Before anyone could even blink Anko appeared behind Naruto. She leaned in close and got right next to his ear before she whispered "Just what do you think you're doing Gaki? Now these Genin, are more afraid of you than the forest."

Naruto just looked at Anko and said "I'm simply taking a page from your book. I plan on beating your completion time Anko-neechan, and intimidation goes a long way."

Just then both Naruto and Anko shift their gaze behind them while Anko pulls another kunai out of her sleeve. That's when they saw one of the Kusa shinobi standing there with Anko's other Kunai wrapped up in his tongue.

"Here's your kunai knife… I believed you dropped it." said the Kusa shinobi.

Anko just looked at the Kusa shinobi and said "I'll just give you this one warning. Don't stand behind me, generating that much K.I., unless of course you want to die."

The Kusa Shinobi simply bowed his head and moved away as he said "My apologies, I'll try to keep it under control in the future… but the sight of such warm delicious blood, that this boy is seeping, really makes me crazy. Besides, your kunai nicked one of my strands of hair, and that always revs me up."

Naruto just looked the shinobi for a second before he shook his head and said "Freak, I'm getting the same strange vibe that I got from that snake freak back in Tanzuku Town."

"Snake freak? You mean Orochimaru? Why does that Kusa Shinobi give you the same feeling as Orochimaru?" asked Anko as she turned back to look at the shinobi.

"I don't know. All I know is that he's giving me the same feeling." said Naruto as he locked eyes with the Kusa Shinobi.

The Kusa Shinobi simply smiled before he brought his fingers up to his left eye and started to channel his chakra. Naruto's eyes widened for a second as he felt the Genjutsu start to take affect before he countered it, he then glared at the Kusa Shinobi before he thought _'That was a pretty powerful Genjutsu he used right there. Just who the hell is he?'_

After a few moments of silence Anko reached into her coat and pulled out a stack of papers as she said "All right! Before we begin the second part of the exam, there's something that I have to hand out."

When Anko saw the look of confusion on everybody's faces she said "They're consent forms, everyone has to fill out."

NiYal looked at Anko with a curious gaze as he said "Consent forms? Why do we have to fill out consent forms?"

Anko got a big smile on her face as she said "We want to cover all the basics before the first deaths occur. You have to sign before you can go into the forest, that way we can't be held liable. You wouldn't want me to get in trouble or anything, would you? Ha, Ha, Ha."

Naruto just shook his head in disbelief as he said "You wouldn't want to get in trouble? That's a first, where was the consent forms, when you started to use explosive tags, poison needles, and death traps in order to increase my agility."

"That's an entirely different matter! Besides those needles weren't poisoned! They were just laced with a muscle relaxant! And you weren't really hurt in that training anyway!" replied Anko as she got in Naruto's face.

"Oh yeah? I don't remember Kaasan seeing it that way." said Naruto as he returned Anko's glare.

Everyone just looked at the two like they were crazy, this caused Haku to walk over to the two and tap Naruto on the shoulder as she said "Naruto-kun, I think we should discuss this later."

Both Naruto and Anko looked at Haku before they noticed everyone staring at them. This caused both of them to rub the back of their head and give a slight laugh.

This action caused many of the Genin present to wonder if they were somehow related. But before anyone could ask that question Anko got a serious look on her face as he said "Ok, getting back on topic, I'll explain what the second exam entails, then you can all sign the forms. You and the other two members of your team, will take the forms and hand them in at that little hut over there. Got That!"

Once she saw the Genin nod their heads in agreement she continued "Good, now about the second exam. To put it in layman's terms, it's a no-holds-barred survival test."

When Shikamaru heard this he simply let out a sigh and thought _'A survival exam? Just great, this sound's like it will be a real pain in the neck. This is such a drag, why did I ever agree to this.'_

Anko let what she said sink in for a few moments before she continued "Now let's start with Training Ground 44 itself. As you can see in the center of the forest is a giant tower, during this test you are allowed to use whatever tools you have at your disposal. In short this test is basically a fight to the death version of capture the scroll."

"Capture the scroll?" asked a very curious Tsunami.

"Exactly!" said Anko as she showed the Genin two different types of scroll one with the kanji of Heaven and the other one had the Kanji of Earth. Anko looked around to make sure that she had everyone's attention before she continued "As you can see, there are two types of scrolls. There's a 'Heaven Scroll' and an 'Earth Scroll', your objective is to obtain both of these scrolls and head toward the tower in the center of the forest. Now as you're all aware, there are twenty-six teams here, so, thirteen of you will get the 'Heaven Scroll' and thirteen of you will get the 'Earth Scroll'."

"Wait! So you're telling us that only thirteen of us can pass. While the other thirteen that get there scroll stolen… will fail." said a nervous Sakura as she looked around at all of the other Genin applicants.

"You hit the nail on the head, so to speak, but there's more. You'll have one hundred twenty hours to complete this exam…, that's exactly five days! If you don't acquire both scrolls by then you fail." said a very serious Anko.

"F-Five days! What are we suppose to do for food!" shouted Ino's and Shikamaru's teammate.

This prompted Ino to grab him by his shirt as she shouted "Is food all you think about Chouji! We're in a fight for our lives here!"

"This is such a drag. Ino, Chouji's got a point there, if we're in there for five days food and water should be a priority." said a lazy Shikamaru.

Anko chose this moment to butt in and continue with her explanation "That's your problem. This forest is filled with Natures bounty, of course it is also filled with all of the previously mentioned items as well. So there's no way all thirteen teams will pass. Think about it, as the time shortens, there will be less time to recover from mistakes, accidents, or injuries. You'll be surrounded by enemies that will most likely kill you the moment you drop your guard, so you'll have to sleep with at least one eye open. Also, aside from the ones that will die in an attempt to capture of defend a scroll, there are bound to be some of you that will succumb to exposure, exhaustion, starvation, and dehydration."

Once again Anko let the seriousness of the situation sink in before she went on "Now that all the pleasantries are out of the way, let's go over the rules. First, as you know the teams that fail to retrieve both scrolls and make it to the Tower in time will fail. Second, any team that loses a team member whether by death or injury, are disqualified. Third, under no circumstances are you allowed to leave the forest before the time is up. That's right, there's no recess or time-outs here, you have to tough it out until the end. Finally, you're forbidden to open the scrolls and look at the contents, until you're inside the tower."

"And what would happen if we sneak a peek before hand?" asked a curious NiYal.

Anko once again got a sweet smile on her face as she said "Only those who look will find out. If you make it to Chunin, at some point in time you'll be entrusted with top-secret documents. So, just think of this as a test of your trustworthiness. That's all the explanation you get. We'll trade one scroll for all of the consent forms of one team. Once you have your scroll, you'll be assigned a gate at which to start at. Everyone here will start at the same time, we can't have anyone get an advantage over the others at the outset, now can we?"

As Anko turned to head for the hut she suddenly stopped and faced the Genin before she said "Oh, and one final piece of advice. Just don't die."

Just then one of the other proctors walked up to Anko and said "Anko-san, we're ready to distribute the scrolls."

Anko got a smile on her face as she said "Great! Ok everyone, once you fill out your consent form, wait until your team is called before you enter the hut. After you receive your scroll, you'll be assigned a gate number, that's where you'll wait until I give the signal to start."

As the teams were called up to receive their scroll Haku looked over at Naruto and asked "What's the plan Naruto-kun? Do we hunt down Kabuto…or, do we just complete this exam as fast as possible?"

"Well, Kaasan hasn't sent us any word yet, so I'm going to assume the old man is going to do something about him. So we'll wait until the third part of the exam ,before we do anything about him. So let's just focus on tracking down a team, that will have the other scroll we need." said Naruto as he watched another team go behind the curtain to retrieve their scroll. _'I see they don't want to make this too easy. They're keeping us in the dark, so we don't know what team has which scroll. I guess me and Haku-Chan will have to do a little surveillance before we attack a team. I don't want to waste any time fighting a team that has the same scroll we do.'_

"**But Kit, think of all the fun you could have fighting those teams."** said Kyuubi as she got a sinister grin on her face as she thought about all the carnage that was about to take place.

'_Baa-Chan, I have no intentions of letting you slake your bloodlust here. Remember, I told Anko-neechan that I was going to break her record, and we can't do that if we fight every single shinobi in the forest, now can we?'_

"**Party-pooper, I still say it would be fun to cut loose though."** said a pouting Kyuubi.

Naruto just shook his head as he heard his team be called to retrieve their scroll. Once inside the hut Naruto handed over his and Haku's consent forms, and as the Proctor handed them an Earth Scroll he said "I can't believe the committee forced you two to take this exam as a two person cell. I wish you the best of luck, if you manage to make it all the way to the end, you'll make history."

Naruto got a smile on his face as he said "Don't worry, we'll not only make it to the end of the exam, we're going to pass with flying colors."

"Big words, I can't wait to see if you can back them up." replied the Proctor.

"You won't be disappointed." said Naruto as both he and Haku left the hut and were lead to their assigned gate.

As the teams continued to hand in their forms and retrieve their scroll we find Kiba, Shino, and Hinata waiting by Gate 16. Kiba scratched behind Akamaru's left ear as he looked over at Hinata and said "WHOOHOO!! If this test's about survival skills then we've got it made! And don't wimp out on us now, ok Hinata!"

Hinata slumped her shoulders as she got a dejected look on her face as she thought _'Not even my own teammates believes in me. At least Naruto-kun and Haku-san don't see me a liability. I wish I was on their team.'_

Meanwhile at Gate 13 NiYal, Anika, and Tsunami were discussing what they were going to do. NiYal looked at his other two teammates before he said "Ok here's the plan, we find a team that has the scroll we need first, then we go and keep an eye on Naruto-sama."

"But what if something happens to him while we track down the other scroll?" asked a worried Tsunami.

NiYal looked at Tsunami and said "It's a risk we're going to have to take. If we spend all our time keeping an eye on Naruto-sama, we'll never pass this part of the exam, and then we won't be able to complete our mission. Besides, I don't think Naruto-sama can be taken down that easily."

"Very well, we'll go with your plan." said Tsunami as she nodded her head in agreement.

"It's decided then, so lets get to it!" said NiYal as he got a smile and got ready to enter the forest.

At Gate 6 Gaara, Temari, and Kankurou waited for the start of the exams. Kankurou just looked nervously at Gaara while he thought _'Great, just great, not only do I have to be on the constant look out for enemies, but I have to spend five days in the forest with Gaara. ARRRGH! Why do I have all the rotten luck!'_

At Gate 25 Naruto and Haku waited patiently for the exam to start when they heard Anko shout "Part two of the Chunin Exam begins…NOW!!"

As Naruto and Haku walked through the opened gate, Naruto looked over at Haku and said "All right Haku-Chan! Let's do this!"

Next Chapter: The Forest of Death!

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Author's Note2: I hope everyone liked this chapter. I also wanted to tell you that because of all the stuff I have going on here the forest of death will take place over the next two chapters, and as I said at the beginning of this chapter I plan to go over every single prelim fight. It just wouldn't feel right if I skipped any, so I hope to see you all here for the next update of Konoha's Mistake.

Well the polls finally over and the winner of the Third element is Lightening with 47 votes.

Metal: 31

Fire: 19

Darkness: 19

Earth: 18

Now after some deliberation I think I might add one more combination element into the mix. So that means he will have Wind, Water, Lightening, and his two element from Kyuubi, one of which will be fire, the other one I'll keep to myself for now it's the one that will be used in the creation of the two sub-elements he's going to have. Well see you all later.


	18. Chapter 18: The Forest of Death!

-1

"Speech"

'_Thoughts'_

**Demon/Summon/inner Sakura speech**

_**Demon/Summon thoughts**_

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or any of the characters created by Kishimoto, but all OC's are my own creation.

Nick-Gregcutistcouple: Thanks for pointing that out, I have no idea how I missed that.

SineDei: You don't have to worry; the pairing for this fic is Naru/fem-Haku.

Author's Note: Well we finally made it to the forest of death and I hope you like the changes I've made. I'd also like to credit Jiran for becoming my Beta reader.

Now on with the Story

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Naruto and Haku had just landed beside a large tree when they suddenly found themselves surrounded by a large number of strange, black-bodied bunshins; all of them had a breathing mask over their mouths and an Ame headband on their heads. Naruto just looked from left to right before he said, "So, they finally decided to attack, huh? I hope this means that they have the scroll we need; otherwise, this will just be a waste of our time."

One of the bunshins stepped forward and said "Hand over your scroll, and we'll spare your life."

When Naruto heard this, he couldn't help but chuckle for a few seconds before he said "Spare our lives? If you think we can be beaten this easily, you're sorely mistaken."

"And just what do you think you can do? There are only two of you, and we are many." said the bunshin as he gestured to the other bunshins around them.

"You think numbers scare me!" said Naruto as he formed a cross shaped seal.

Before he could activate his jutsu however, Haku stepped forward and said "Let me handle this, Naruto-kun."

Naruto separated his hands and looked over at Haku as a grin appeared on his face before he said "Alright, Haku-Chan, but try not to have too much fun."

Haku just nodded her head and started to do a series of hand seals before she slammed her hands down on the ground and said "Hyouton: Koori Mizuumi Hitoya!" (Ice Style: Ice Lake Prison)

Ice started to form on the ground and then went out three hundred and sixty degrees around both Haku and Naruto. As the ice spread out, it entrapped anything in its path, be it plant or animal. When Haku finished the jutsu, she noticed that none of the bunshins were caught in her jutsu; she then looked over at Naruto and said "They're not here."

(Up In the Trees)

The three Ame shinobi looked on with glee as their leader said, "That was an impressive Jutsu, but it is useless when your prey isn't in reach."

The leader suddenly heard a couple of groans coming from behind him, and as he turned he said, "Kagari? Mubi?"

His eyes widened when he saw Naruto standing beside him and both of his teammates unconscious on the branches behind Naruto. As Naruto dusted his hands he said, "It is an impressive jutsu, but it was just meant to distract you while I pinpointed your location."

"But how?!" said the leader as he spun around and looked back down at the forest floor, only to see the Naruto standing beside Haku disappear in a puff of smoke. _'KAGE BUNSHIN!'_

Before the Ame Shinobi could process this information Naruto formed a seal and cast a genjutsu, which caused the Ame Shinobi to scream like a little girl before he passed out.

"I think you overdid it there, Naruto-kun," said Haku as Naruto and a couple bunshins brought the three Ame Shinobi out of the trees and tied them up.

As Naruto started to search for their scroll he said, "Hey! All I did was show him his worst nightmare. How was I supposed to know that he would scream like a little girl when he saw himself in a pink tutu in front of his entire village?"

"A pink tutu?"

"Don't look at me! It was his worst nightmare. Ah ha! Found it!" said Naruto as he pulled a Heaven Scroll out of the Ame leader's pouch.

Naruto stood up and tossed the Heaven Scroll to Haku before he said, "We lucked out; now all we have to do is get to the Tower, and this part of the exam is over."

"Naruto-kun? Is it just me, or does this exam seem too easy?" asked Haku as she looked at the Heaven Scroll.

"I know what you mean, Haku-chan. I just hope the third part is more challenging; otherwise this exam is going to be a real letdown. Now come on; let's get to the Tower. We still have a record to beat after all," said Naruto as he let a smile cross his face.

Haku just nodded her head, and both of them headed off toward the Tower.

(Just outside Training Ground 44)

Anko had just taken a bite of her dango when she heard a girlish scream; she turned to look in that direction before a smile formed on her face as she said, "I know that type of scream. Damn, that Gaki works fast! If that team had the scroll they needed, then he's already on his way to the Tower. Well… so much for my team's record, the Gaki just set the bar to a whole new level."

Just then a proctor and three ANBU showed up. Anko just looked over at the group and said, "What's going on?"

Before the ANBU could say anything the proctor got down on one knee and said, "Terrible news, Anko-san!! We found three dead bodies!"

"Dead bodies? And you found them outside of the training ground?" said Anko as she swallowed the dango she had been eating.

The panicked proctor merely nodded his head before he continued "Hai, dead…and very weird. You have to come and see for yourself!"

"Hold on a second, Anko-san; we were dispatched to take the genin Kabuto, and his teammates into custody. It's an order from Hokage-sama. So, could you please tell us what gate he used to start the exam? I'll send my fellow ANBU to retrieve them while I go with you to investigate these dead bodies," said the ANBU Captain.

Anko looked down at the paper in front of her before she said, "Let's see… Kabuto, huh? His team entered Training Ground 44 at Gate 38."

"Thank-you, Anko-san. You heard her; get to Gate 38, and start the search now!" said the ANBU Captain. His two subordinates merely bowed and then headed off in that direction.

The ANBU Captain then turned toward Anko and said, "Now, shall we go and check out those dead bodies?"

(Meanwhile with Team 7)

Sasuke looked at his two teammates as he said, "Sakura, Sai, I don't want that dobe to beat us to the Tower. So we need to move fast and find the other scroll we'll need."

The moment Sasuke finished talking, a powerful gust of wind flew through the area and blew Sai off his feet and into the forest. As Sasuke looked around to try and locate where the attack came from, Sai came back into the clearing and said, "Hey, you guys all right?"

Sasuke got a menacing grin on his face as he threw a kunai directly at Sai. As Sai dodged the attack, Sakura got a shocked look on her face as she said, "What are you doing Sasuke-kun?! It's just Sai!"

"That's not Sai! Sai never talks to us like that; he always has to throw an insult my way! Now tell me; what have you done with Sai?" said Sasuke as he glared at the imposter.

"Heh, heh, heh. Well done. This is going to be more fun than I had originally thought," said Orochimaru in his Kusa disguise. He then brought his left hand into view and showed Sasuke and Sakura his Earth Scroll before he continued, "I suppose you want this, right? I mean, you've already got the Heaven Scroll, so you need this one to pass."

Orochimaru then put the scroll away and looked both of them in the eye as he said, "Let's just see which one of us is the better shinobi. We'll fight to the death!"

He then brought his left hand up to his eye and cast a genjutsu, which caused both Sasuke and Sakura to see and experience their death.

Sasuke just dropped down on all fours and hurled before he looked back at Orochimaru and thought _'He's using genjutsu! I really felt like he killed me just now! W-Who the hell is this guy?!! There's no way he's just a genin!'_

Orochimaru looked on with great amusement as he said, "Poor Sasuke, you really are just a weakling, aren't you? Naruto-kun was able to break that genjutsu pretty easily. I guess you really are nothing compared to him."

Sasuke clenched his fist and glared at Orochimaru as he said, "Don't you dare compare me with that dobe! I'm a greater shinobi than he'll ever be!"

"Oh? Then why don't you prove it Oh yeah, that's right; my genjutsu must have paralyzed you by now. So you won't be doing much of anything anymore," said Orochimaru as he pulled two more kunai out and got ready to strike.

'_No, you're wrong. I can still move just enough to do this!'_ thought Sasuke as he stabbed himself with his own kunai and just barely managed to dodge the two kunai thrown at him before he grabbed Sakura and made a strategic retreat.

A smile crossed Orochimaru's face as he looked at the spot Sasuke use to be at before he thought _'Excellent, it appears that Sasuke has an intense rivalry going on with Naruto. Perhaps I can use this to my advantage and get Sasuke to come over to my side faster than I thought. Ku, Ku, Ku.'_

Meanwhile up in the trees Sasuke pulled the kunai out of his leg. As Sasuke grunted in pain Sakura came out of her shock and noticed Sasuke's condition. She then got a very worried look on her face as she shouted, "SASUKE-KUN! ARE YOU ALL RIGHT?!"

When Sasuke just ignored her and continued to scan the area, she decided to try and get his attention once again. "SASUKE-KUN! WHY WON'T YO…"

Sasuke put his hand over her mouth and whispered, "Shut-up. Do you want to give our location away?" _'Damn it! We have to move fast or he'll find us again!'_

His thoughts were cut short however when Sakura shoved his hand away from her mouth and shouted, "Sasuke-kun!! Snake!!!"

Sasuke quickly turned around and shoved Sakura out of the way just as the snake launched its attack. With the initial strike over, the snake turned its attention directly to Sasuke and launched another attack.

As the snake opened it mouth, Sasuke saw a shadowy image of Orochimaru behind the snake before he launched a barrage of kunai and shuriken at it while he said, "YAAAAH!! Stay away from me!!!"

As the weapons buried themselves into the giant snake Sasuke landed safely on the ground with a confident smirk on his face. That confidence was short lived however as Orochimaru came out of the snake and said, "I'm disappointed Sasuke, letting your guard down like that. You need to keep it up like a good little prey… That way it'll make the case so much more rewarding for the predator!"

'_Damn it! What do I do now?! I'm way out of my league here; this guy's got to at least be a jounin. I've got to… find… some… way… to……'_ Sasuke's thoughts slowed as he started to get really tired before he lost consciousness and collapsed to the ground.

Orochimaru looked on curiously as Sai landed beside Sasuke's unconscious body with an equally unconscious Sakura tucked under his left arm. Once he put Sakura down he turned to face Orochimaru and said, "My master has a proposition for you, Orochimaru-sama. He is willing to help you out if, and only if, you provide him with useful information on a certain jutsu."

"Intriguing, but tell me: why should I believe you?"

"Because, my Master will assist you in eliminating the person you hate the most. He will help you kill the Sandaime Hokage," said an emotionless Sai.

A smile appeared on Orochimaru's face as he said, "Intriguing, very intriguing, so tell me: just who is your master? And what jutsu does he want information on?"

"I'm not permitted to reveal my master's identity, but if you want to know who he is, then agree to meet with him during the one month lull between the second and third part of the exams. That's where you'll learn about the jutsu he wants information on," said Sai as he waited for Orochimaru's answer.

"Very well, I'll meet with your master. Tell him to be at the old shrine that is just outside of the village two weeks after the end of the second exam." said Orochimaru.

When Orochimaru saw Sai nod his head, he decided to get back to the business at hand "Now if you'll excuse me, I have some unfinished business with the Uchiha here. Unless of course you try and stop me…" said Orochimaru as a snake like grin appeared on his face.

Sai's expression never changed as he said, "I have been given no orders in regards to dickless over there; so do what you want with him."

Orochimaru's snake like smile got even bigger as he formed a seal and his neck extended as his head shot over to Sasuke before he bit Sasuke in the neck. As Orochimaru's head retracted back to his body, a curse seal formed on Sasuke's neck.

Once Orochimaru's neck returned to normal he looked over at Sai, and as he started to dissolve into the ground he said, "I'm warning you now, child; if your master betrays me, he won't live to regret it."

After Orochimaru completely disappeared into the ground Sai noticed the Earth Scroll Orochimaru had left behind. Sai picked up the scroll and looked over at his two unconscious teammates before he thought, _'Great, now I have to wait for these two to wake up before we can head to the Tower, where I'll be able to complete my true mission here.'_

Sai then went up into the trees, pulled out his sketch pad and started to draw as he waited for his teammates to wake up.

(Back with Anko)

"Anko-san, judging from their belongings and the registration papers we found on them, these shinobi all belong to Kusagakure no Sato. To make matters worse, they were all genin selected to partake in the Chuunin Exams. And, as you can see, their faces are smooth as though they'd been melted away," said the proctor as he flipped the body over to show Anko what he meant.

When Anko saw the dead bodies her eyes widened in horror as she thought, _'There's no doubt about it; this is Orochimaru's doing! Is he here to finish what he started in Tanzuku Town?!'_

Anko quickly spun around at looked at the Proctor before she shouted, "Quick show me there ID's!!"

The Proctor quickly handed over the ID's, and when Anko saw the face that was on the ID her face paled. _'Damn it!! That mean's he'd already done so when…!!'_

(Flashback)

Naruto watched the Kusa shinobi as he went back toward his team before he shook his head and said, "Freak, I'm getting the same strange vibe that I got from that snake freak back in Tanzuku Town."

"Snake freak? You mean Orochimaru? Why does that Kusa Shinobi give you the same feeling as Orochimaru?" asked Anko as she turned back to look at the shinobi.

"I don't know. All I know is that he's giving me the same feeling," said Naruto as he locked eyes with the Kusa Shinobi.

(End Flashback)

'_Is he after my otouto?!' _Anko's head shot up from the ID as she shouted, "SHIT! This is bad!"

"What is it?!" said the concerned ANBU Captain.

Anko pointed at the Proctor and said, "YOU! Tell Hokage-sama that Orochimaru is back in the village!! Ask him to send more ANBU to the Forest of Death at once!! I'm going in after him!"

"Not alone, you're not; Kakashi-sempai would never let me hear the end of it if I let you go in there alone." said the ANBU captain.

"Kakashi-sempai? Just who are you?" asked a curious Anko.

"You can just call me Yamato. Now, shall we get going?" said Yamato as Anko nodded her head, and both of them headed off into the forest.

After the area was clear, an ANBU with purple hair came out of hiding and thought, _'Damn! This isn't good; I'd better let him know what's going on.'_

The purple-haired ANBU then disappeared in a whirl of leaves.

(The Forest of Death-Near the Tower)

Naruto and Haku made their way through the forest until the Tower came into view. When Naruto saw the Tower a smile formed on his face as he looked over his shoulder at Haku and said, "Hey Haku-Chan, how long has it been since we started this part of the exam?"

Haku reached into her pouch and pulled out a watch before she said, "About Forty-five minutes Naruto-kun."

"Well I guess that means were going to have a lot of down time, until we start the final part of these Exams. So, do you want to have a little spar after we finish this part?" said Naruto as they reached the doors of the Tower.

"Sure, it would definitely be a good way to pass the time." said Haku as she opened the door.

As Naruto and Haku entered the Tower they noticed that the room was empty. After a few seconds of silence Naruto looked over at Haku and said, "Do you think we're a little too early?"

Haku just shrugged her shoulders and replied "I don't know. Let's just open the two scrolls and finish this part of the exam."

Naruto nodded his head in agreement before both of them pulled out their respective scrolls and opened them. After they opened the scrolls Naruto recognized the seal written on them and as smoke started to come from the seal he said, "Haku-Chan! Drop the scroll! Now!"

As the two scrolls hit the ground a large amount of smoke erupted from the seals. When the smoke cleared Naruto's eyes widened in shock as he saw Tsunade standing there with a smile on her face. "Damn Naru-Chan, you didn't even give me enough time to enjoy my sake."

"Kaasan?! What are you doing here? I thought we were supposed to be greeted by a Chuunin." said a shocked Naruto.

Tsunade's smile got even bigger as she said, "Well, normally that's the case, but I was able to convince Sarutobi-sensei, to let me be the one that greeted you when you completed the exam. Now let's get down to business, first I want to congratulate you on not only completing the second part of the exam, but you also blew the previous record for completing this exam completely out of the water."

"Stop exaggerating Kaasan, we couldn't have beaten it by that much, the exam wasn't that difficult."

Tsunade shook her head in disbelief at Naruto's modesty. Her smile then got even bigger as she said, "I'm not exaggerating Naru-Chan. What you and Haku-san just did was completely unprecedented. You've beaten the previous record by about five hours, and you did it with a two man cell no less! I can't wait to see the look on all those arrogant bastards face's when they find out that I won the bet! HA! HA! HA! HA!"

When Naruto heard this he got a worried look on his face as he said, "You won a bet? This can't be good, every time you win a bet, something bad happens."

"HEY! That doesn't happen all the time! Besides like I told Jiraiya, I learned my lesson the last time I bet against you." said a defensive Tsunade.

Naruto started to chuckle when he remembered about his plans for later so he said, "Oh yeah, hey Kaasan? Would it be alright if we went outside of the Tower and had a little spar?"

Tsunade thought about it for a little while before she said, "I don't see a problem, there's no rule against you going back outside after you complete this part, but just don't go too far. Don't forget that the other Genin are still out there taking the exam."

"Don't worry Kaasan, we'll be careful." said Naruto as he and Haku both headed back outside while Tsunade headed back up to the lounge to finish her bottle of sake.

Once they were back outside Naruto and Haku got into their respective fighting stances, but before they could even start the Purple haired ANBU from earlier landed between them.

When the purple haired ANBU saw Naruto reach for his Kodachi she got down on one knee and bowed her head before she said, "Wait Naruto-sama! I didn't come here to fight with you."

Naruto got a bewildered look on his face as he said, "Naruto-sama? What are you playing at? I know that you're the same ANBU that attacked us before, so what's with all the respect now?"

"Please forgive my actions from before Naruto-sama, but I felt that it was the only way to ensure that Kushina-sama, and the others made it in time to help you out." said the Purple haired ANBU.

"And why should I believe you?" asked a skeptical Naruto.

The ANBU kept her head bowed as she said, "I can only ask you to trust me on this, but I will tell you that I'm taking a big risk here. If Danzou or any other member of Ne found out about our meeting, than my cover would be blown."

"Your cover would be blown? What are you talking about?" asked Naruto as he let his curiosity get the better of him.

"It's simple really, my name's Uzuki Yuugao, and I'm a spy for Kushina-sama, I was ordered to infiltrate Ne and find out any information I can about Danzou and his activities. If you don't believe me then look into my eyes and see for yourself." said Yuugao as she took off her ANBU mask and looked Naruto directly in the eyes.

Naruto spent a couple of minutes searching her eyes for any sign of deceit, and when he found no traces of any he finally said, "Fine, I'll give you the benefit of the doubt. So why don't you tell me the reason you made yourself known? I doubt it was just to let me know of your existence."

"Very true Naruto-sama, so let's cut to the chase. The reason I came here was because I couldn't fine my contact Shadow, and knowing how close you are to Anko-san, I'd knew you would want to hear this. Apparently Orochimaru is in The Forest of Death for an unknown reason, and Anko-san ordered that ANBU be sent to the forest, before she went in after him." said Yuugao as she put her ANBU mask back on.

"SHE WHAT!!!!! Of all the idiotic things to do! If Orochimaru activates her curse seal before backup arrives…" shouted Naruto.

"Naruto-kun, what should we do?" asked a very concerned Haku.

Naruto looked Haku directly in the eye and in a serious tone of voice said, "We're going after her of course, but first…"

He then did a few quick hand seals and summoned a small slug before he said, "I want you to give Kaasan a message for me, tell her that Orochimaru has been spotted in the forest, and that Anko-neechan went after him. Also tell her that Haku-Chan and I are going in to give her backup until the ANBU arrive."

"Hai, Naruto-sama." said the slug before she disappeared in a puff of smoke.

Naruto then turned to Yuugao and said, "Tell us which way she went, and we'll be on our way."

"I'm sorry Naruto-sama, but I can't tell you which way she went. I will however, help you track her down." said Yuugao as she let a smile form on her face.

Naruto raised one of his eyebrows in curiosity as he said, "But what about your undercover work?"

Yuugao bowed her head slightly as she said, "I'm honored that you're worried about that, but I don't think there will be a problem. I'm not expected back for quite some time and there's only one Ne member in the forest, so as long as I'm not spotted by them I should be fine, besides I owe this to Anko-san, for not finding out about her parentage. Both of you would have been so much happier if I had just done my job better."

"Don't worry about it, I'm actually pretty happy with the way my life has turned out. Now lead the way. We have to find Anko-neechan A.S.A.P!" said Naruto as Yuugao bowed her head again and all three of them headed off into the forest.

(Inside the Tower)

Tsunade had just taken another sip of her sake when Kushina sat down beside her and said, "Is it true? Did Naruto-kun really pass the exam in just forty-five minutes?"

"Yup, Naru-Chan and Haku-san just set the bar to an entirely different level." said a very proud Tsunade.

A smile appeared on Kushina's face as she took a sip of her own sake. She then looked over at Tsunade and said, "I can't wait to see what the council's reaction will be, when they see Naruto-kun take that Uchiha apart."

"I know; I'm also looking forward to that fight, I'm tempted to make a few bets with that fight," said Tsunade when a slug suddenly appeared in front of her.

The slug merely looked at the two of them before she said, "Tsunade-sama, I have a message from Naruto-sama. He wishes to inform you that Orochimaru has been sighted in the forest of death, and Anko-san went in after him. So he and Haku-san have gone in to provide backup until the ANBU can arrive."

"WHAT???!!!!!! We have to do something, if they face Orochimaru alone…" shouted Tsunade as her sake bottle broke when it hit the floor.

"Tsunade-sama, let me handle this one. I'm more than capable of dealing with Orochimaru, and remember what Naruto-kun said, The ANBU have already been notified, and are on their way. So there's no need to worry." said Kushina.

Tsunade got a worried look on her face as she said, "But…"

Kushina looked at Tsunade with pleading eyes and said, "Please Tsunade-sama, let me do this. I've never been there for them before. So please, let me be there for them now."

When Tsunade saw the look in Kushina's eyes she let out a deep sigh and said, "All right, I'm counting on you to bring them both back safely."

"I won't let you down Tsunade-sama, that's a promise." said Kushina as she got out of her seat and jumped out of the adjacent window.

Tsunade just looked out the window and watched Kushina disappear into the forest as she thought _'Please bring them back safely Kushina. If anything happened to Naru-Chan, I don't know what I'd do.'_

(Several minutes later)

Naruto, Haku and Yuugao had made it about three Kilometers from the Tower when suddenly Kushina landed in front of them. She looked at all three of them before she settled her gaze on Yuugao and said, "I take it you're the one who told Naruto-kun, about Orochimaru being in the forest, huh Yuugao? You're taking a big risk here, if Danzou found out about this…"

Yuugao lowered her head and in an apologetic tone of voice said, "Forgive me Kushina-sama, but I couldn't locate Shadow, and I know how much Naruto-sama cares for Anko-san. So I couldn't just stand by and do nothing, while someone he cares about is in danger. I failed Naruto-sama once, and I won't do that again."

When Kushina heard the last part of Yuugao's apology she got a sad look on her face and let out a sigh before she said, "That wasn't your fault Yuugao; if anything, I'm to blame for what happened back then, but enough about that. We have to hurry if we're to catch up to Anko-Chan."

"Wait, you're the only one that came to help? What about Kaasan?" asked a curious Naruto.

"I managed to convince her that I could take care of this myself. I may not have been there for you when you were little, but I'll be damned, if I'm not going to be there for you now."

When Naruto heard Kushina's words his lip curled into a small smile before he said, "all right, now let's get going the longer we stand around here, the more time Orochimaru will have to hurt Anko-neechan. Yuugao! Lead the way."

"Hai Naruto-sama!" said Yuugao as she took point and they all headed off towards Anko's location.

(With Anko and Yamato)

As Anko and Yamato made their way through the forest she thought _'Damn it! It's already dusk! If we don't find him soon… the darkness will only make the situation worse.'_

"Anko-san, I fear that if we don't find him soon, than we won't find him at all." said Yamato as he pulled a little ahead of Anko.

Anko remained quiet as she landed on a tree branch, she the stood straight up and then got a smirk on her face as she said, "Heh, I've finally found you, YOU BASTARD!!"

She quickly spun around and hurled a combination of kunai, shuriken, and explosive tags at the tree behind her. As the tree went up in a great ball of fire, Orochimaru emerged from the smoke and landed on a nearby tree branch. A snakelike smile spread across his face as he said, "Ku, Ku, Ku, Impressive Anko, I see you've taken the skills I've taught you and become an elite of the village."

Just then a stream of wooden spikes came barreling toward Orochimaru, but at the last second he dodged the attack and looked over at Yamato before he said, "Ah, so one of my experiments did survive, how marvelous. Tell me, which one are you, there were so many failures that I couldn't keep track of them all."

Yamato just glared at Orochimaru from behind his mask and said, "Failures? Is that how you see all the people who died in your experiments, as just failures?!"

"Why of course dear boy, they weren't strong enough to handle the power I'd given them so they died, but you, you were strong enough to survive. I think I'll take your corpse back with me and find out how you survived the process, that way I can make more of you. Ku, Ku, Ku." cackled a gleeful Orochimaru.

Without warning Anko attacked Orochimaru with a series of punches and kicks as she said, "No you won't, you bastard, because I'm going to end this right here and now!"

Orochimaru's snakelike smile got even bigger as he dodged all of Anko's attacks, and when he finally got dome distance between them he said, "You think you can kill me? All right let's see how much you've grown."

He then rolled up his sleeve to reveal a strange tattoo on his forearm before he bit his left thumb and smeared the blood on the tattoo as he said, "KUCHIYOSE NO JUTSU!"

As a giant snake was summoned he pointed at Yamato and said, "Take care of him while I have my fun with Anko, will you? Ku, Ku, Ku."

Before the snake could even move, Yamato he did a quick series of hand seals and shouted "Mokuton: Mokusei Gosukugi no Jutsu!" (Wood style: Wooden Spikes) A dozen wooden spikes suddenly shot up from under the ground and impaled the snake where it stood.

As the snake went up in a puff of smoke Yamato returned his gaze back toward Orochimaru and said, "You're going to have to do better than that if you want to take me down."

"What marvelous power, I'll definitely have to dissect you and find out where I went right." said Orochimaru as he licked his lips, in a snake like manner, in anticipation of his future discoveries.

"You're talking as if you've already won! Yamato now!" shouted Anko as she moved at top speed and launched a sinning roundhouse kick at Orochimaru's head.

The moment Orochimaru dodged Anko's kick Yamato had just finished his hand seals and shouted "Mokuton: Shichuurou no Jutsu!" (Wood Style: Four Pillar Prison Technique)

Several beams of wood shot up out of the ground around Orochimaru and merged together to form a prison of wood. When Yamato saw that his Jutsu had worked a smile formed on his face and he said, "Now you're going to pay for all of the harm you've caused Orochimaru."

Orochimaru got another snake like smile on his face as he said, "Do you honestly think you've captured me?" The moment he finished saying that he sank into the ground.

"Damn it!" shouted Anko as she scanned the area when she suddenly heard Yamato scream. She spun around just in time to see Orochimaru pull his sword out of Yamato's abdomen.

As Yamato fell to his knees Orochimaru got a glint in his eye as he said, "I think I'll keep you alive for now, how knows, I may discover something that won't show up when you're dead."

"Bastard!!" shouted Anko as she did a few quick hand seals and said, "Doton: Daichi Supaiku no Jutsu!" (Earth style: Earth Spike)

Spikes made of the surrounding rock popped up out of the ground and made a beeline straight for Orochimaru. As Orochimaru did back flips to dodge the attack Anko raised he closed hand and when the last spike missed Orochimaru by mere inches she opened her hand and said, "Supaiku Bakuha!" (Spike Explosion)

Orochimaru's eyes widen in shock as he saw the last spike explode into hundreds of sharp rocks. As a few of the shards pass through his hair and missed his face by a few inches he shot out his tongue like a snake and latched onto Anko's right wrist.

'_Oh no you don't!'_ "Senei Jashu!" (Hidden Shadow Snake Hands) said Anko as a couple of snakes came out of her sleeves and gripped the tongue with both of her hands before she uses the full force of her body to pull Orochimaru over to her.

The moment Orochimaru is within reach Anko grabbed his wrist and spun him around as she pulled another kunai from her sleeve before she plunged it through her left hand, Orochimaru's right hand and imbedded it into the tree behind them.

Anko the grabbed Orochimaru's left hand and formed a hand seal before she said, "I'm going to end this here! So why don't you lend me your left hand!" She then closed her eyes and thought _'I'm sorry otouto, but this is the only way.'_

But before Anko could finish the jutsu her eyes opened in terror as she heard Orochimaru's voice come from behind her. "Anko, Anko, Anko, you plan on using Souja Sousai no Jutsu (Twin Snake Double Assassination Technique), and commit suicide? How precious! But seeing as how that's a doppelganger…"

Anko's eye took on a look of shock as the Orochimaru in front of her disappeared in a puff of smoke. _'A Kage Bunshin!!'_ She then pulled the kunai out of her hand and spun around to see Orochimaru sitting in a relaxed position on a tree branch just above her head.

"I'm disappointed Anko, I thought I taught you not to squander the secrets I gave you." said Orochimaru as he formed a hand seal and activated Anko's curse seal.

Anko screamed in pain as she brought her hand up to her neck and collapsed to her knees. She then looked up at Orochimaru and said, "W-Why are you here? D-Do you plan to finish what you started in Tanzuku Town?"

Orochimaru jumped down to the kneeling Anko and said, "Goodness no, in fact with Tsunade's brat in the exams, my job is a lot easier. I'm after a particular Shinobi, who's displayed some extraordinary abilities. But first…"

The moment Orochimaru stopped talking he got a pissed off look on his face and backhanded Anko straight across the face. When Anko turned her head and glared at him his anger returned as he said, "You always were a spoiled little brat, thinking you could beat me in a fight. I still can't believe that Sarutobi forced ME, one of the legendary Sannin, into becoming your lowly bodyguard after your mother's assassination."

Anko's eyes narrowed even further when he mentioned her mother before she said, "Bastard!" The moment Orochimaru saw the look on her face he got a smile on his face as he said, "Ah, are we feeling a little jealous that I left you to rot in this worthless village?"

"Go to hell!!" shouted Anko before she grunted in pain and tightened her grip on the curse seal.

"Does it hurt? Don't worry; you're not the only one I gave the curse seal too. In fact I just left such a mark, as a little parting gift to an exceptional shinobi. Unlike you he has an exceptional Kekkei Genkai; he's of the Uchiha bloodline. He has a very beautiful face and body, I think he'll be the perfect vessel… to succeed Me." said Orochimaru as he put his hand under Anko's chin before he forced her to make eye contact.

His smile got even bigger and he started to chuckle as he said, "I foresee some interesting times… and don't get any ideas about canceling the exams. I want to savior this… I'll make sure that every enemy of this village unite and crush Konoha."

Anko suddenly spat in Orochimaru's face and said, "Go to HELL!! There's no way you could get them all to unite!"

"You little brat! I see you still need a lesson in manners!" said Orochimaru as anger returned to his eyes and he raised his hand to strike Anko again.

But before Orochimaru could even strike her again a red chakra tail wrapped around his wrist and then hurled him into some nearby trees as a voice shouted "**KEEP YOUR HANDS OFF MY NEECHAN!**"

Once Orochimaru was clear of Anko, Naruto, and Kushina landed next to her while Haku, and Yuugao went over to check on Yamato. As Naruto shifted his gaze to the area that he threw Orochimaru he said, "Man Anko-neechan, if I hadn't finished the exam already, I'd swear you did this on purpose so I wouldn't beat your record."

Anko just grunted in pain before she said, "Save it for later Gaki, you need to stay focused! This isn't an opponent that you can take lightly."

Naruto just got a serious look on his face and said, "I know that."

As Orochimaru got to his feet he noticed Naruto and a red headed woman standing between himself and Anko. But when he got a better look at the read head his eyes widened in shock as he said, "It can't be!! You're supposed to be dead!"

"I've been getting that a lot lately. Now why don't you just give up, you know you can't beat Me." said Kushina as she watched Orochimaru for any sign of movement.

'_Damn! I don't have time for this! With her here and ANBU on the way…'_ thought Orochimaru as he increased the power of Anko's curse seal. When Anko's agonizing screams got even louder he said, "You'd better let me go Kushina. Otherwise…, Anko will die."

Naruto gritted his teeth and narrowed his eyes as he shouted "YOU BASTARD!!!"

"Now, now, you won't want to aggravate me, would you?" said Orochimaru as his snake like smile return in full force.

Kushina clinched her fist before she said, "And how do we know that you won't kill Anko-Chan if we let you go?"

"You don't, all you have is my word that I won't kill her. So what is your decision?" said Orochimaru as he sent another surge through Anko's seal.

When Anko screamed out in pain again Kushina glared at Orochimaru and reluctantly said, "Fine, but you'd better not hurt Anko-Chan, because if you do, I promise you, you won't make it out of this forest alive."

Orochimaru does a slight bow before he started to sink into the ground. He then lifted his head up so his smile is visible and as his head sank into the ground he said, "Until next time."

Once Orochimaru was out of sight Naruto glared at the ground before he said, "Next time, you won't be able to use Anko-neechan like that."

Naruto then turned his attention toward Anko while Kushina kept her eyes on the surroundings to make sure that Orochimaru has left the area. Naruto then put his hand on the curse seal before he said, "While I don't have the knowledge to seal the curse seal, I can ease the pain until we get to the Tower for proper treatment."

When Naruto finished his treatment he said, "Well how do you feel?"

"It still hurts, but it's not as bad as it was before." said Anko as she slowly got to her feet.

It was at this point and time Haku shouted "Naruto-kun! I need some help over here! He's been stabbed in the gut and my healing skills don't seem to be enough!"

Naruto quickly made his way over to Haku and examines Yamato before he started to use his training to help. "Haku-Chan, concentrate your chakra on just the lower portion of the wound and I'll focus on the upper portion."

As Naruto and Haku worked on Yamato's wound, Kushina helped Anko over to them, and once Anko saw Yamato's state she asked "Will he be alright?"

After a few minutes of silence Naruto let out a sigh of relief as he said, "He's out of danger, but we better get him to a hospital, so he'll make a complete recovery."

Naruto then got to his feet and looked directly at Anko before he said, "Anko-neechan, I want you to promise me, that you won't do this again. At least not until I can remove that seal on your neck."

"Get rid of the curse seal? Is that even possible?"

"I'll make it possible. I don't care how long it takes, but I will find a way to get rid of that seal, I promise." said a very serious Naruto.

A smile appears on Anko's face as Kushina put Anko on her back before she said, "Come on let's get back to the Tower. There's an infirmary there so this ANBU should be able to get the attention he needs. Naruto-kun, why don't you carry him since I've already got Anko-Chan on my back?"

"Sure." said Naruto as he picked up Yamato and secured him on his back before he turned back toward Kushina and asked "So shall we get going?"

Kushina simply nodded her head before they all took to the trees and headed off toward the Tower.

Next Chapter: The Curse Seal Released! Sasuke's descent into darkness!

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Author's Note: Well I hope that everybody liked this chapter. Now in the next chapter Kabuto and Shadow will meet, as well as the Kumori team encounters with both Team 8 and Naruto's team. Also Naruto and Sasuke will have a brief encounter. So I'll see you all next time.


	19. Chapter 19: The Curse Seal Released!

-1

"Speech"

'_Thoughts'_

**Demon/Summon/inner Sakura speech**

_**Demon/Summon thoughts**_

Beta reader: Jiran

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or any of the characters created by Kishimoto, but all OC's are my own creation.

Narutomaniac: About Orochimaru not wanting to fight Kushina, it's not that he was afraid of Kushina, he was just shocked that she was alive and then to top it all off he knew that more ANBU were on the way and there was no way he'd be able to take on Kushina and the ANBU so he pulled a strategic retreat. Also your idea about what their fight will be like in the finals is pretty close to what I have in mind

Naruhina Inukag fan: Naruto and Gaara will have a brief encounter inside the Tower before the prelims.

Author's Notes: I'm really sorry about the late update, but there were some technical difficulties and unforeseen delays. So here's the beta version and when I get the edit I'll replace the beta version. Now I know I said the Kumori team would encounter Naruto in this chapter, but this chapter turned out so long that I split it in two. So they won't meet him until the next update.

Now on with the story

Chapter 19: The Curse Seal Released! Sasuke's descent into darkness!

"All right guys, since the Tower is where everyone's going. So I say we set traps as close as we can. That way, we can just sit back and wait for our prey to come to us." said Kiba as he looked at both of his teammates.

Just then Akamaru sniffed the air before he shifted his gaze over toward a group of trees and growled. When Kiba heard his partner growl he took him off of his head and said "Hey boy, what's wrong?"

As Akamaru started to do a series of barks several kunai came out of the tree line and headed straight for Team 8. After they dodged the Kunai Hinata activated her Byakugan, and discovered that they were completely surrounded by two teams from Kiri. "K-Kiba-kun, w-we're surrounded by two Kiri Teams, t-two of them are directly in in front of us, a-another two are behind us, a-and the remaining t-two are on either side of us."

"Damn! So they decided to join forces and double-team us, huh? Hinata, I want you to take care of the two behind us, Shino, you got the two on either side, while I take care of the ones in front." said Kiba as he readied himself for battle.

But before they could launch their attack a giant water dragon came out from behind the trees and headed straight for them. As they jumped out of the way of the attack a thick mist started to fill the area.

"Shit! They're trying to keep us disoriented! Akamaru, where's the closest enemy?!" said Kiba as Akamaru sniffed the air a couple of times before he let out a bark and turned his head to the left.

As Kiba headed off in that direction he said "Hinata, show us the results of your training! Take care of the ones that are responsible for the mist, while Shino and I keep their attention!"

"H-Hai." said Hinata as she scanned the area with her Byakugan. Once she located the two shinobi responsible for the mist, she went to confront them, but when she meet them face to face, the fierce look in their eyes caused her confidence to take a hit.

The moment the two shinobi saw Hinata's hesitation a menacing smile appeared on their faces and as one of them advanced on Hinata he said "Well, well, what do we have here? A little girl who seems to be out of her league? Why don't you go home little girl before you get yourself hurt. Heh, heh, heh."

When Hinata saw the gleam in the Kiri shinobi's eyes she took a step back in fear and thought _'W-What do I do? These guys look really tough. Wait, what was it that Naruto-kun told me?'_

(Flashback-Two Days Ago)

Hinata was on her hands and knees gasping for breath from her latest training session when Naruto came over and said "Hey Hinata, how's it going?"

After Hinata took a couple of deep breaths she looked over at Naruto and said "I-I don't think I can do this anymore."

"What do you mean Hinata?" asked a curious Naruto.

"I-I don't think I can do this anymore Naruto-kun. I-I know that I'll never be as skilled as Anko-sensei, and w-whenever I train with her, s-she has this fierce look in her eyes, that's shows her c-confidence and determination. I-It makes me feel so inferior." said a meekly Hinata as she let out a sigh and stared at the ground.

"THAT'S BULLSHIT HINATA!! I've seen you fight, your stronger than you think, you've just to work on your confidence. Once you have that, you'll be a force to be reckoned with." said Naruto as a smile formed on his face.

Hinata's eyes widened when she heard this and looked Naruto directly in the eyes before she said "D-Do you really think so?"

Naruto's smile got even bigger as he said "Of course I do, I wouldn't have said it otherwise. Now as for the whole fierceness in the eyes thing, all I can say is this; as long as you have precious people you want to protect, and the desire to never giver up, you'll find a way to overcome any kind of fear."

"N-Naruto-kun."

Naruto then put his hand on her shoulder and said "Look Hinata, the next time you start to doubt yourself, just remember the precious people you want to protect, and you'll find the strength you're looking for."

(End Flashback)

'_T-That's right, I have people I want to protect, and I can't let them down.'_ thought Hinata as she calmed her fears and got into her fighting stance.

When the Kiri shinobi saw Hinata get into a fighting stance he said "So, you've chosen death."

As the Kiri shinobi launched several Kunai at Hinata, her training with Anko kicked in as she dodged all the kunai and even managed pull out a couple of her own kunai and launch a counterattack. After one of Hinata's kunai passed right by the Kiri shinobi's head he looked at Hinata in shock as he said "Well now, you're better than I thought."

When Hinata heard this she couldn't help but get a small smile on her face, when suddenly the second Kiri shinobi attacked from behind and tried to stab her in the back. Thankfully Hinata still had her Byakugan activated and was able to pull out her own kunai and block the attempt, but the moment she blocked the kunai the attacker released his grip on it and grabbed both of her wrists. He then looked over at his partner and said "Do it."

The first Kiri shinobi pulled out a short sword and moved to impale Hinata. Hinata's eyes widened in shock as she tried to free herself but when she couldn't she thought _'I-I can't break free! I-I'm sorry Naruto-kun, I-I've failed you.'_

She then closed her eyes and waited for the sword to cut her flesh, but when it didn't come she slowly opened her eyes and was surprised to see NiYal in front of her with his sword blocking the killer blow. NiYal got a serious look on his face as he said "For people who think so highly of their skills, you sure like to gang up on people."

"Who the hell are you?!" said the Kiri shinobi as he increased the pressure on the blade in an effort to break through NiYal's defense.

The instances NiYal felt the extra pressure he merely tilted his blade slightly and used the Kiri shinobi own force to get him off balance before he cracked him upside the head with the butt of his sword. NiYal then did a fast spinning back kick and nailed the surprised Kiri shinobi that was holding Hinata's wrists, square in the face.

As the Kiri shinobi hit the ground NiYal looked over at Hinata and asked "Are you ok Hinata-san?"

Hinata just stared her rescuer for a few seconds before she said "W-Who are you?"

"Ah how rude of me, my names NiYal, and me and my team just happened to be passing by when we saw the situation you were in, and we decided to help you out." said NiYal as he keep his eyes on the two enemy shinobi.

"B-But why did you want to help us NiYal-san?" asked a very curious Hinata.

"Later, we have more important thinks to worry about right now." said NiYal as the two Kiri shinobi got to their feet.

Meanwhile Kiba and Shino were having a little trouble when the mist suddenly lifted. Kiba looked over at Shino and said "All right! It looks like Hinata managed to disrupt their jutsu. Now let's finish this!"

Shino merely nodded his head and got ready to engage his two adversaries when a sudden wave of water came barreling through and slammed one of his opponents into a nearby tree. The moment the Kiri shinobi made contact with the tree Tsunami came out of the water and slammed her staff directly into his stomach. She then did a quick spin and used the butt of her staff to hit him in the chin, which forced his head backward right into the tree.

As this Kiri shinobi collapsed to the ground unconscious Shino used this distraction to get behind his other opponent and used his bugs to render him helpless.

When Kiba saw this he started to do a few hand seals before he said "I'm no going to let you show me up. Shikyaku no Jutsu!" (Four- Legged Technique)

Kiba then went down on all fours and used his knew speed and agility to get behind his closest opponent and knocked him off balance. That's when Akamaru jumped off of Kiba's head and latched his jaws onto the shinobi's jugular.

With one of his opponents incapacitated he turned his attention to the other one only to see the blade of a dagger sticking out of his chest before it violently cut through his chest killing him in the process. As the body fell to the ground Anika became visible, and while she wiped the blood off of her dagger she said "Thanks for distracting him with that jutsu of yours, it made my job that much easier."

Kiba just stared at Anika for a second before he said "Who the hell are you?! And what are you doing here?!"

"Name's Anika dog breath and I just saved your ass, in case you didn't notice." said Anika as she put her dagger away and went over towards Tsunami.

Kiba started to see red before he shouted "DOG BREATH!! I'll you know that my breath doesn't stink, and besides I had everything under control, and didn't need you help!"

"Yeah right…" said Anika.

Tsunami took this opportunity to look around when she noticed that NiYal and Hinata has yet to return, she let out a sigh before she said "Don't tell me he's still hasn't taken out his opponent."

A smile appeared on Anika's face as she said "You know him, so come on. Let's go see."

NiYal had just blocked another sword strike when he saw Hinata land a blow to her opponents chest, while it wasn't enough to kill him, it was enough to knock the wind out of him long enough to allow Hinata to hit a pressure point which rendered him unconscious.

'_Nice, she's pretty good once she stops thinking poorly of herself.'_ thought NiYal as he kicked his opponent in the stomach. As the Kiri shinobi stumbled backwards NiYal started to channel chakra into his sword which caused the blade to heat up and become white hot, he then looked at his opponent and said "It's time to finish this."

"Hah, you think you can scare Me." said the Kiri shinobi as he charged one final time. As the two blades collided, NiYal's white hot blade cut through the Kiri's like a hot knife through butter. After NiYal cut the blade in half, his blade then went right through the Kiri's left arm.

The Kiri shinobi screamed before he passed out from the pain while NiYal sheathed his sword. The moment his sword was back in its sheath he heard Anika yell "Well you sure took your time! I thought I was going to have to jump in there for a second!"

"Bite me Anika, I was just having a little fun before I ended the fight." said NiYal as he gave Anika a harsh look.

"Tempting…, but I think you'd like that too much." said Anika before she winked at NiYal.

NiYal just shook his head before he started to search the Mizu shinobi for their scroll while he said "Geez, you never change, do you?"

"Nope." said Anika as a smile appeared on her face.

While NiYal continued to search the Kiri shinobi, Hinata went over to her teammates and bowed her head before she said "I-I'm sorry, I-I wasn't able to stop my opponents by myself."

"Hey, don't worry about it Hinata, but more importantly, your knew skills rock!" said Kiba as he put his hand on Hinata's shoulder.

Hinata's eyes widened in shock so the only thing she could say was "Huh?"

"I said I'm impressed with how far you've come because of your extra training." said Kiba.

When Hinata just stared at Kiba with a blank face Shino decided to add "He's correct Hinata-san, your extra training has drastically increased your skill level."

A slight blush appeared on Hinata's face and her lips curled into a smile as she thought _'They don't think I'm a failure. They don't think I'm a failure!' _

Hinata's thoughts were interrupted when NiYal shout "Found them!" As everyone's attention turned toward NiYal who produced two Earth Scrolls.

"Catch!" shouted NiYal as he tossed one of the scrolls at Hinata before he turned toward his teammates and said "Now that we've got both scrolls, lets go and find Naruto-sama."

But before they could leave Kiba put his hand on NiYal's shoulder as he said "Hold on a second here. Why are you being so helpful towards us? I mean first you help us out of that jam with those two teams, and then you just hand over one of the scrolls they were carrying without a fuss. Are you trying to form an alliance with our village?"

NiYal looked over his shoulder and took Kiba's hand off of his shoulder as he said "An alliance with Konoha? Don't make me laugh; we have no intention of forming an alliance. All we did was aid a friend of Naruto-sama's, and any friend of Naruto-sama's is a friend of ours."

'_T-They consider me a friend?'_ thought a stunned Hinata as she just stood there and stared off into space.

Kiba got a curious look on his face as he said "Naruto-…sama? Why do you show that Naruto guy so much respect? From what we've learned, he was just an orphan from our village."

"We are only showing Naruto-sama, the proper respect for someone of his station." said Tsunami.

Kiba got a really confused look on his face before he said "His station? But we already told you that he is just an orphan. So what station could he possibly have?"

Anika couldn't help but snicker before she looked at her teammates and said "They don't know about Naruto-sama's lineage."

"And just what lineage is that?" asked a calm Shino as he took a couple of steps forward.

Anika turned her attention toward Shino and got a slight grin on her face before she said "It's not our place to tell you, if you want to know what we're talking about, you'll have to ask Naruto-sama."

NiYal chose this moment to tap Anika on the shoulder and when he got her attention he said "Hey remember the plan, we need to get going."

As the Kumori team was about to leave NiYal turned toward team 8 and gave a slight wave before he said "Well we have to get going, see you during the third test."

After the Kumori team left Kiba just looked at the other two members of his team and said "Come on guys, let's get to the Tower, I've got a feeling that this third test will be very interesting."

(Elsewhere in the forest)

Shadow jumped from treetop to treetop as he made his way through the forest when he finally came to rest on a tree branch and looked down toward the ground only to see Kabuto and his team being confronted by the two ANBU(one with a fox mask and the other with a wolf mask) sent to locate them. Shadow just shook his head in disappointment as he thought _'Man, I must be losing my touch. Those two ANBU managed to beat me to the target. Well, I guess I'll just stay shadows and see how things turn out.'_

Just then one of the fox ANBU members said "Yakushi Kabuto, you and your team are to be taken into custody under the suspicion of treason."

Kabuto adjusted his glasses before he put his arms out in front of him and said "Well now, I guess you've caught us. We'll go without a fuss."

"What are you doing Kabuto?" asked one of his teammates.

"Shut up, and let me handle this." said Kabuto as he kept his arms out in front of him and waited for the ANBU to make the first move.

The fox ANBU walked up to Kabuto and was about to bind his hands when Kabuto's hands started to glow green. Kabuto suddenly move at top speed and jabbed the fox ANBU in the chest, which resulted in the ANBU's heart muscle being ripped to shreds.

As the fox ANBU's body falls to the ground, the wolf ANBU reacted immediately and pulled out his sword before he stabbed Kabuto in the abdomen. But before he could even pull the sword out Kabuto grabbed a hold of his head and with one swift motion completely snapped his neck.

Kabuto then pulled the sword out of his abdomen and looked at the two dead ANBU and said "Fools, you made a big mistake thinking I was just a lowly Genin. But I'm glad to see that my skills have increased, the next time I face Naruto-kun, I will kill him."

When Shadow heard this he did a series of hand seals before he said "Kage Heru Kourin no Jutsu" (Shadow's Hell Descent)

Suddenly dark shadowy pools appeared beneath Kabuto and his teammates. Kabuto managed to jump out of the way just as black tendrils shot up out of the pools and ensnared both of Kabuto's teammates by wrapping around their wrists, neck, waist, and legs.

Kabuto watched from a nearby tree as his two teammates were dragged down into oblivion, and once the shadowy pools completely disappeared, he got a smirk on his face and stood upright as he said "Impressive, I was wondering when you were going to show yourself. And when you did, you even managed to level the playing field."

Shadow looked at Kabuto with a clinical eye before he said "So, you knew I was there all along, and yet… you didn't even try to warn your comrades about the danger. Why?"

"Comrades? Please, they were just pawns for Orochimaru-sama, easily sacrificed for a greater cause. Well this was unexpected, I didn't think that Kumori would ever come to Konoha's aid." said Kabuto as he got a smirk on his face and once again adjusted his glasses.

"On the contrary, I attacked you because you threatened Naruto-sama." said Shadow as he keep his eyes open for an opening.

Kabuto was caught a little off guard by Shadow's show of respect towards Naruto, so he had to ask "Why do you show him so much respect? I know he made quite the impression on you leader, but that's not enough to warrant this kind of treatment."

"The answers simple really, Naruto-sama gets my respect because of the actions he's taken, as well as the fact, that he's our village leader's son." said Shadow as he waited for Kabuto's reaction.

Kabuto's eyes widened in shock as he said "Your leader's son?! Then that would mean your leader's name is…"

The moment Shadow saw Kabuto's guard drop slightly he had his shadow tendrils latch onto Kabuto, but the moment the tendrils tightened their grip, Kabuto turned into a log. Shadow narrowed his eyes and said "Kawarimi no Jutsu"

Shadow looked from left to right as he searched for Kabuto when his eyes suddenly widened as he jumped out of the way of two hands that came up out of the ground and tried to grab his ankles. As Shadow landed a few feet away from where he last was Kabuto rose up out of the ground and said "Did you really think you'd be able to catch me off guard so easily?"

Shadow stood up straight and looked Kabuto in the eyes before he said "Not really, but I just couldn't pass up an opportunity like that, now could I?"

"No, I suppose not, but you do realize that this is just a waste of time. Even if you kill me Orochimaru-sama's plan will still succeed." said Kabuto as he pulled out a kunai.

As Kabuto charged, Shadow pulled out his own Kunai and blocked all of Kabuto's blows before he went for a sweep to the legs. Kabuto easily avoided this sweep by doing a couple of back flips to get some distance.

Shadow watched as Kabuto got into a defensive position and waited for Shadow's next move. Shadow got a smile on his face as he thought _'So, he wants me to attack huh? Well, let's see how he likes this.'_

He then formed a signal hand seal before he sank into the shadows. Kabuto got a curious look on his face when he saw this move, but before he had a chance to search the area Shadow came out of the shadows that were behind Kabuto and tried to strike him down.

Kabuto barely managed to duck and roll away from Shadow just as the kunai was about to make contact with his flesh. He then turned around in mid-roll and looked at the spot he had just been at, only to see that Shadow was no longer there. _'What Jutsu is he using? I don't know of any shadow techniques that allow you to move through the shadows the way he does, and in this forest, he has the advantage. I have to get to a clearing, otherwise…'_

When Shadow launched another attack Kabuto once again managed to dodge it, and then made a mad dash toward the open clearing he spotted about one hundred yards away. Once he made it to the clearing Kabuto turned around and waited for Shadow to show himself.

Shadow stood on a tree branch at the edge of the clearing and thought _'Smart move, now I won't be able to use __Kage Ge-Touxei_ (Shadow Gateway)_, ha, now he's the one who leveled the playing field.'_

Before Shadow could even launch his next attack he noticed a slight blur right as a sword sliced his right side of his stomach. Shadow grabbed his right side as he dissolved into the shadows as he thought _'Shit! How could I let myself be caught off guard like that?'_

Kabuto watched in silence as he saw Orochimaru appear out of nowhere and slash at Shadow before Shadow managed to escape. Orochimaru scanned the surrounding area and when he couldn't locate Shadow he thought _'So, he's hiding inside the shadows huh? Well it doesn't really matter anyway; the poison coursing through his veins should be enough to finish him off.'_

As Orochimaru approached, Kabuto got down on one knee and said "Orochimaru-sama, I'm honored that you came to my assistance, but I need to inform you of something. I've just learned something of great importance in regard to the identity, of the Kumori leader."

"Oh? And just what might that be Kabuto?" said Orochimaru as he tilted his head a bit to the left.

"Well Orochimaru-sama, I've learned that the leader of Kumori is none other than Uzumaki Kushina, the mother of one Uzumaki Naruto." said Kabuto as he got back to his feet.

Orochimaru's eyes widened a little bit as he said "Kushina is the leader of Kumori? Well now, I knew when I saw her in the forest earlier, that she would make things more interesting. I can't wait to see the look on her face, when she sees what I have planned, just thinking about it makes me so happy, Ku, Ku, Ku, Ku."

"And what are you going to do about Naruto-kun?" asked Kabuto.

Orochimaru looked at Kabuto and said "Nothing, I've discovered that Naruto's presence will only hasten Sasuke-kun's desire for more power. Now come along, there's been a change of plans; it appears that there is someone in this village that hates Sarutobi-sensei as much as I do. They even offered to assist in killing him, if I supplied them with some information on a particular jutsu."

"And you believe them Orochimaru-sama?"

"For the time being we'll go along with them, and once Sarutobi-sensei is dead, we won't need them anymore. Now lets get going, I want to start the second phase of my plan as soon as possible." said Orochimaru as he took to the trees followed shortly by Kabuto.

Once both of them were gone Shadow emerged out of the shadows once again and grunted in pain as he leaned against a tree. Shadow took his hand off the wound and looked at the blood on his hand as he said "Damn this isn't good, I have to let Sensei know about this."

Shadow then started his slow walk toward the Tower.

(With Naruto and the others)

As Naruto and the others made their way through the forest, Kushina turned toward Yuugao and said "Yuugao, you'd better get back to where you're suppose to be, before anyone starts to suspect something."

"Hai Kushina-sama." said Yuugao as she broke off from the group and headed off in a different direction.

After Yuugao was out of sight Kushina looked over her shoulder and asked "Anko-Chan? Is Naruto-kun always so willing to jump into the fray, just to save someone he cares about?"

"Yeah, for as long as I've known him, the Gaki's always be willing to do whatever it takes to make sure that the people he cares for are safe." said Anko as she brought her hand up to her neck and thought _'Can he really find a way to remove the curse seal? It seems impossible, but he did give me his word, and I've never known him to go back on his word.'_

Anko's thought were interrupted when she saw a smile appear on Kushina's face before she said "That sounds just like Minato-kun, he was always so willing to risk his life to save the ones he cared about."

When Anko heard this, her lips curled into a small smile as she said "Yeah, you're right, he is just like father in that respect."

Meanwhile Naruto, who had been listening in, wondered why he got a strange feeling of happiness when he heard the comparison between himself and his father. _'Strange, why do I feel so happy about being compared to the Yondaime?'_

"**That's probable because you've started to accept the fact that he was your father, and you're proud of him."** said Kyuubi as she stifled a yawn.

'_I don't know Baa-Chan, I still have mixed feelings about that, but more importantly…'_ thought Naruto when he suddenly got a familiar feeling of dread followed shortly by a malevolent chakra surge.

Naruto came to a complete stop and turned to face the rest of the group as he said "Did you feel that?"

"Yeah Naruto-kun, I've never felt something so evil." said Haku as she turned her head in the direction of the chakra surge.

It was at this point that Anko said "I have, it's the same kind of feeling I got when one of snake bastards experiments used their curse seal."

"This is the snake freaks doing? Then we better go and check it out, if I get a chance to stick it to that snake freak than I'm going to take It." said Naruto

Kushina looked at Naruto and said "But what about the wounded Naruto-kun?"

"Well the ANBU is in no real danger, he's just unconscious, and as for Anko-neechan… we'll let her decided on what we should do." said Naruto as he turned his attention toward Anko.

Anko thought about it for a second before she said "We'll go and check it out, if it is one of Orochimaru's curse seals than it has to be the Uchiha."

"Uchiha? You mean Sasuke-teme? What the hell would that snake freak want with that bastard?" asked a confused Naruto.

Kushina also got a curious look on her face and said "Well, the only way we'll find out is if we go and see for ourselves."

They then all headed off toward the malevolent chakra surge.

(About 30 minutes earlier with Team 7)

Sai had just finished his sketch when he noticed Sakura stir slightly. As Sakura had started to wake up Sai jumped down from the branch he was sitting on and landed right next to her.

Sakura had just woken up when she saw Sai land right beside her and as she shook her head she asked "What? What happened?"

"We were attacked by a man named Orochimaru, and by the time I was able to make it back here, he had already given dickless that mark on his neck. He then told me his name and then went off into the forest." said Sai.

"S-Sasuke-kun got hurt?" said a very worried Sakura as she hurried over to Sasuke and checked to make sure he was alright.

Once Sai saw that Sakura was completely awake and alert he said "I need you to keep an eye on dickless here, while I go and get us some food."

Sai didn't even wait for an answer as he promptly took off and left Sakura to take care of Sasuke.

As Sakura changes the cloth on Sasuke's forehead she heard someone say "You're too distracted by Sasuke's condition that you failed to keep an eye on your surroundings. How else could we have gotten so close undetected?"

Sakura quickly turned around to see three Genin from Oto standing there. Before she could even react the one with wrappings on his face said "Why don't you just wake Sasuke there. The three of us want to fight him."

"WH-What are you talking about? Do you work for this Orochimaru guy? What's the purpose of that mark on his neck?!" said Sakura as she nervously reached for her kunai.

The three Oto Genin's eyes widen in shock when they heard Orochimaru's name that's when the wrapped Genin said "What are you up to Orochimaru-sama?"

"It doesn't really matter anyway, Orochimaru-sama ordered us to kill him, so I say we do it now and be done with It." said the spiky haired Oto Genin as he started to advance.

But just as he was about to put his foot down on some blades of grass, the Wrapped one said "Wait Zaku!!"

"Why should I do that Dosu?" asked Zaku as his foot hovered just above the grass.

Dosu knelt down and lightly put his fingers on the edge of the misplaced grass and said "Isn't it obvious? Turned stones, exposed soil, and this grass shouldn't be here. It looks like someone's been busy setting up booby traps."

"And it's so amateurish too. Honestly it's insulting to be underestimated by such an amateur." said the female Oto.

Dosu looked over at his female teammate and said "Now now Kin, no need to get upset about it. We'll just eliminate her and be done with it."

"It's not going to be as easy as you think." said Sakura as she threw a bunch of kunai and shuriken at the Oto shinobi.

"This is insulting. Zankuuha!" (Decapitating Air Waves) said Zaku as he raised both of his arms and had wind blow out of the to holes in his palms.

When the wind made contact with the projectile weapons they immediately reversed direction and went back toward Sakura, who moved her arms in front of her face in an attempt to protect her face. As the weapons blow past Sakura they gave her many cuts and scrapes and when they all went past her, and she screamed out in pain.

(At short distance away)

Neji, Ten-Ten and Rock Lee were on the look out for any shinobi that had the scroll they needed when they suddenly heard a loud scream. Lee's eyes widened in shock when he heard it and he said "I know that voice… Sakura-Chan!"

Then without a second thought Lee went off at top speed in the direction he had heard the scream.

When Ten-Ten saw Lee run off she shouted "Lee! Hey Lee! Just where do you think you're going?!"

Once Lee was out of sight Neji just let out an aggravated sigh before he said "We better go after him. I just hope he doesn't do anything stupid before we get there."

Ten-Ten just nodded her head and both of them went off after Lee.

(Back with Team 7)

Before Sakura could recover from the previous attack Kin appeared behind her and violently grabbed her pink hair before she said "My, my, what lovely hair you have, it's got so much bounce and shine to it. I bet you spent hours fussing over your looks, when you should have been training. You're such a disgrace, that I'm almost ashamed to call myself a shinobi."

As tears started to stream down Sakura's face she suddenly heard a voice say "Konoha Senpuu!" Sakura looked up and with tear filled eyes saw Rock Lee kick both Zaku and Dosu in the face and knock them to the ground before he turned toward Sakura and Kin and said "You will release Sakura-Chan now! Or face the wrath of Konoha's handsome green beast…, … Rock Lee!"

Sakura used her free hand and wiped the tears from her eyes as she said "Where did you come from?"

Lee never took his eyes off of Kin as he said "I came because you needed me, and I always will. Now as for you Oto shinobi, I'll say it one more time, release Sakura-Chan, or face my wrath."

By now Dosu and Zaku had both gotten to their feet, and as Dosu lifted his right sleeve he said "Well, it looks like it can't be helped, but I think you'll make a good plaything."

Lee surveyed his surroundings before he thought _'There are three of them and only one of me, but one of them has a hold of Sakura-Chan. So that just makes it two to one, if I isolate them and take them on one at a time, my strength should be enough.'_

It was at this point that Zaku stepped forward and put his hand on Dosu's shoulder before he said "Let me handle this one Dosu. It's been awhile since I had any fun."

"Do whatever you want, but this means that Sasuke is mine." said Dosu as he took a few steps back to give Zaku some room.

Zaku slammed his right fist into his left palm as he said "You hear that uber brow! You have to tangle with me first!"

"The name's Rock Lee and I will not be as easy as you think! I WILL SHOW YOU THE POWER OF YOUTH!!" shouted Lee as flames could be seen in his eyes.

"Oh yeah! Well take this! Zankuuha!!" shouted Zaku as he thrust his arms forward and a very power wind blew toward Lee.

Lee jumped out of the way of the wind gust only to have Dosu appear beside him and took a swipe at Lee's head. When Lee dodged the blow and landed on the ground he suddenly felt very dizzy and collapsed to one knee before he looked at the two shinobi and said "Blast you, that wasn't very fair, saying you would take me on one on one, and then attack me together like that. Most un-youthful."

"Like we care what you think. Results are the only thing that matter in the end. Now I think it's time we finish this." said Dosu as he charged Lee once again.

This time Lee blocked the blow that was aimed at his head, only to have his left ear bombarded with a very loud sound directed at his eardrum. When Dosu saw the shocked look on Lee's face he said "Surprised? I can use my own chakra and direct the sound to a specific point on my opponent's body, making any kind of defense useless."

As Lee went down on his hands and knees, and vomited. Dosu looked down at Lee and said "Impressive, anyone else would have passed out from the pain by now. So why don't we add to it a little."

"W-What do you mean?" asked a disoriented Lee.

Dosu simply turned toward Sakura and Kin before he said "Hold her tight Kin."

Kin just nodded her head as she tightened her grip on Sakura's hair before Dosu lifted up his right sleeve again and ran directly at Sakura.

'_He's coming! And there's nothing I can do to stop him!'_ thought Sakura before her eyes suddenly widened in shock when she saw Lee move and plant a spinning heel kick directly on Dosu's cheek bone before he collapsed to the ground because of his ear.

Dosu landed hard on the ground before he got back to his feet and shook his head a few times before he thought_ 'Impossible! He shouldn't even be able to move with the amount of damage his left ear has taken!'_ "I'll admit I underestimated you, buy now it's time for the coupe de grace!"

When Dosu was about to charge Lee several kunai landed at his feet. He then looked up into one of the trees and saw Ten-Ten and Neji standing there. Ten-Ten just looked at Dosu and readied her weapons before she said "Take one step closer to Lee, and I'll make you my new pin cushion!"

"What?! Just how many of these vermin are we going to have to take down?!" said Dosu as he looked at both Ten-Ten and Neji.

Neji turned his attention to the collapsed Lee as he said "That was foolish, running off on your own like that. You should have let us keep pace with you Lee, then you wouldn't be in this situation."

Lee remained motionless on the ground and after a few moments Neji activated his Byakugan as he said "You hurt our teammate, so now you have to deal with us! I'll give you this one chance to stop now otherwise… we'll be going all out."

Dosu glared at Neji before he said "Heh, if we're so despicable, then why don't you come down here and do something about it!!"

Just then Neji felt a very malevolent Chakra coming from Sasuke, so he just closed his eyes and let a smile cross his face as he said "Heh, it appears we won't have too. You'll have your hands full with him."

"What are you talking about?' asked Dosu when he noticed that Sasuke had started to stir.

As Sasuke rose to his feet Sakura got a big smile on her face as she shouted "SASUKE-KUN! You're awake!"

With purple chakra swirling around him Sasuke stood up straight and looked at the captive Sakura before he said "Sakura, which of them are our enemies?"

When Sakura didn't answer Sasuke got irritated and said "Tell me! Which ones are our enemies?!"

"Sasuke-kun… your body."

Sasuke looked down at his hand and when he saw the marks all over it he said "Nothing to worry about. I feel fine… in fact I feel like I'm bursting with power! But where did it come from?"

Sakura's eyes widened when she remembered what Sai had said, she then looked Sasuke in the eyes and said "It must be the mark that Orochimaru gave you!!"

Orochimaru? You mean the one we fought before?" asked Sasuke and when he saw Sakura nod her head a smile appeared on his face as he said "I understand now, he gave me this power to show me my true purpose. Now tell me which ones are our enemies."

Before Sakura could even answer Zaku got a smirk on his face and said "The shinobi from Oto are, and I'll do to you what I did to your little friend too."

"So, you're my opponents." said Sasuke as he glared at Zaku and the marks spread even further across his face.

Dosu looked on in terror as the purple chakra got even bigger as he thought _'His chakras immense there's no way we can…'_

"Snap out of it Dosu! Let's use this chance to take him out!" shouted Zaku as he started to channel his chakra.

"No Zaku!! You don't understand!!" shouted Dose but his pleas went unanswered as Zaku shouted "Zankyokukuuha!!" (Extreme Decapitating Air Waves)

As the powerful burst of air decimated just about everything in front of Zaku, and when the dust finally settled there was nothing but ruined earth in front of him. So the smirk on his face got even bigger as he said "Ha, ha, ha! I blew that weal little shit to pieces!"

"And just what weak little shit is that?"

Zaku's eyes widened in shock as he turned to his left to see Sasuke standing there with his left arm in motion, not even a second later Sasuke's fist connected with Zaku's head. This contact knocked Zaku several feet away from Sasuke before he hit the ground hard and skidded to a halt.

After Zaku got up on one knee he looked fearfully at Sasuke as he thought _'H-He's so fast! I couldn't even see his movements when he hit me!'_

Sasuke just looked at Zaku for a moment before he did a series of hand seals and said "Katon: Housenka no Jutsu!" (Fire Style: Mythical Fire Phoenix Technique)

As several small fireballs came barreling towards Zaku, he got a mad look on his face as he said "You cocky bastard!! You think you beat me with this little fire show! I'll just blow them out!"

When the wind gust extinguished the flames Zaku's eyes widened in shock when he saw that the flames concealed shuriken. As the blades pierced his flesh Zaku thought _'Damn him, he hid shuriken within the flames!'_

"Zaku!! Beside you!" shouted Dosu as he marveled at Sasuke's speed.

"Hunh?!" was all Zaku could say as Sasuke grabbed a hold of Zaku's left arm and twisted it as he stepped behind Zaku.

Sasuke twisted the arm a bit more which caused Zaku to scream out in pain as Sasuke said "You seem very proud of this arm of yours. Let's see how you take it when it's put out of commission."

He then snapped Zaku's arm when he slammed his right palm halfway between Zaku's elbow and shoulder. As Zaku collapsed to his knees he grabbed a hold of his busted arm and shouted "You bastard!! You broke my arm!!"

"And that's not all." said Sasuke in a cynical voice as he put his right hand on Zaku's chin and his left hand behind Zaku's head and then proceeded to snap his neck.

As Zaku's lifeless body fell to the ground Sasuke turned his attention toward Dosu and said "I hope you're more of a challenge than your friend was."

When Sasuke started to advance, Dosu took a couple of steps back and then pulled out their earth scroll and said "In your current state, I'm obviously no match for you. So why don't you take our scroll as a token of my admiration of your abilities, and let us leave in piece."

Sasuke just stood there for a moment before he suddenly disappeared. Dosu's eyes widened for a second before he felt a searing pain in his back. He turned to look over his shoulder and saw Sasuke standing behind him who had plunged a kunai into his back.

As Sasuke proceeded to pull the kunai up and slice Dosu's flesh he said "Why should I let you leave? I still haven't tested the full extent of my new power yet."

Sasuke then proceeded to pull the kunai up and to the left which severed Dosu's spinal column. But before Dosu fell to the ground Sasuke slammed his kunai into the cut and pierced Dosu's heart.

After Dosu's body fell to the ground Sasuke then turned to Kin and in a cold voice said "And then there was one. Now be a good girl and put up some kind of fight, otherwise I'll be very disappointed."

Kin got a terrified look on her face as she released Sakura and backed away from Sasuke. Once Sakura was freed she ran over to Sasuke and enveloped him in a hug, and as tears streamed down her face she said "Stop it Sasuke-kun! Please stop! There's no need to take it this far!"

Sasuke just looked down at Sakura and then knocked her away as he said "Pathetic, don't you understand Sakura? This has to be done. Now leave me alone and let me finish this."

He then looked over at Kin and got an evil smile on his face as he said "Now it's your turn, I hope you're ready to meet your maker."

(Meanwhile up in the trees)

Naruto and the other had arrived just in time to see Sasuke snap the neck of Zaku, and after Sasuke killed Dosu and turned his attention to Kin, Naruto handed Yamato over to Haku as he said "Take care of him Haku-Chan, I have to stop this mindless slaughter."

"Wait Naruto-kun, let me handle this. I'll take care of him before he knows what hit him." said Kushina as she put Anko down on the branch.

"No, Technically your not suppose to be in the forest, so if you stop him, there could be all kinds of trouble. I on the other hand am supposed to be here, so they can't do a damn thing about It." said Naruto, who then jumped off the branch before Kushina could argue.

'_Damn it he's right! If I get involved with an applicant during the test. Who knows what the council will try to do?' _thought Kushina just slammed her fist into the side of the tree before she said "You'd better be careful Naruto-kun."

(Back on the ground)

Once Naruto landed in the clearing between Sasuke and Kin a smile appeared on Sasuke's face as he said "So it only took two to bring you out of hiding. Now fight me! I want to prove to you that I'm the better Shinobi!"

"It only took two?" said Naruto as his eyes widened slightly before he narrowed them and continued "Sasuke! You didn't!"

Sasuke just let the smirk on his face get bigger as he said "That's right, I only killed them to draw you out. If I had too, I would have killed everyone here."

This comment shocked everyone and then Naruto look at Sasuke in disbelief before he said "You can't be serious! You're willing to kill your fellow shinobi just to get me to fight you?"

"Of course! Now fight me!!"

"No, I won't fight you." said a very serious Naruto.

Sasuke's eyes widened in shock before he said "What?! If you don't fight me than I will kill everyone here, starting with your teammate whose hiding up in the trees."

Naruto got a very serious look on his face and said "You leave me no choice then Sasuke-teme, I won't fight you. But I will stop you!"

Before Sasuke could even react Naruto moved at a very fast speed and slammed his fist hard right into Sasuke's solar plexus. As Sasuke fell to the ground unconscious the curse seal started to recede and when Sasuke hit the ground the seal was back to its original position.

Naruto looked down at Sasuke for a moment before he turned his attention to the heavens scroll that he took from Sasuke, in his hand. He then looked over at Sakura and said "Catch."

Sakura caught the scroll and after a moment of contemplation she asked "Why are you giving this back?"

"Simple really, I gave my word that I would face Sasuke in the third part of this exam. Besides my team finished this part hours ago. So what purpose would it serve me to take your scroll know?" said Naruto as he looked over at Kin.

When Kin noticed that Naruto looked in her direction she took a couple of steps back and looked for a means of escape. But before she could implement anything Naruto appeared beside her and said "And just where do you think your going?"

"I'm leaving, since my teammates are dead, there's no reason for me to stick around anymore." said Kin as she slowly backed away from Naruto.

Naruto just shook his head before he said "Sorry I can't let you do that. Personally I don't care that you attack Sasuke-teme and his team, this is an exam after all, but you're an Oto shinobi, whose leader has tried to kill me in the past. So I'm going to take you in for questioning."

"And if I resist?" asked Kin as her hand moved toward her equipment pouch.

"That's your call, but you should think about it. Even if you somehow manage to escape from here, do you honestly think that Orochimaru will welcome you back with open arms? From what I've heard he's not the type to forgive failure." said Naruto as he waited calmly for Kin to make her move.

After a few minutes of silence Kin let out a defeated sigh as she puts her hands out in front of her and said "You win. It's not like I could escape from you anyway."

Once Naruto bound Kin's hands he looked up at the trees and said "Kushina! Haku-Chan! Can you two come down here and help me out?"

Suddenly Haku and Kushina both landed in the clearing, Kushina had Anko on her back while Haku had Yamato. As both of them put down their passenger Ten-Ten got a look of disbelief in her eyes and approached Kushina before she said "It can't be?! A-Are you Uzumaki Kushina?"

Kushina just looked at Ten-Ten with a curious expression before she nodded her head in agreement while she said "Yes, that's my name. Why do you want to know?"

Ten-Ten just got stars in her eyes and clasped her hands together as she said "I, I can't believe I'm talking to the real Uzumaki Kushina, the one Kunoichi said to be able to take on the Yondaime Hokage! But wait… I heard you died during the Kyuubi attack almost fourteen years ago."

"Don't believe everything that you hear in the village." said Kushina before she looked over at Naruto and added "I take it you want me to watch our little Oto shinobi here while you check on that green clad guy over there?"

"Yeah that's about it, thank Kushina." said Naruto as he gave her a slight wave and started to head over toward Lee.

Ten-Ten sharply turned toward Naruto and shouted "Hey! Show Kushina-sama the proper respect for one of her station!"

Naruto stopped dead in his tracks and looked over at Ten-Ten before he said "Excuse me?"

"You heard me! Show Kushina-sama the proper respect!"

It was at this point that both Kushina started to chuckle and once she calmed down she said "Naruto-kun doesn't have to worry about that. In fact there is one name I would really like him to call me."

When Naruto say the look in Kushina's eyes he let out a sigh and said "I don't know if I'll ever be able to call you that. I do already have a Kaasan after all."

"I know and Tsunade-sama has my thanks for taking care of you all this time, and I don't want to take her away from you. I just want you to see me as your second Kaasan." said Kushina in a low voice.

When Ten-Ten heard Kushina mention the fact that Tsunade was Naruto's Kaasan she grabbed him by the trench coat and said "Tsunade-sama is your Kaasan?! You've got to introduce me to her! She's been my idol ever since I was little; it's my dream to become as great a shinobi as her."

Naruto got Ten-Ten to release her grip on his coat and as he knelt down to check Lee he said "All right, I'll introduce you to her, just let me check on your friend here."

Ten-Ten just nodded her head and Naruto went about healing Lee's ear. After Naruto finished healing Lee, he thanked Naruto and then he and his team headed off into the woods to complete the exam. Once they were out of sight two ANBU landed in the clearing. When one of the ANBU spotted Anko seated against a tree he said "Man Anko, we've been looking everywhere for you."

Anko just let out an aggravated sigh before she said "You two must be the slowest ANBU in history."

"Hey don't be like that. You're still alive after all."

Anko gritted her teeth in pain from the seal and when the two ANBU saw this one of them said "The curse seal that we've been worried about has flared up again. Does this mean?"

When they saw Anko nod her head one of them said "If he's really here then we need to get you to Hokage-sama, so you can report it to him directly."

"No we need to get to the Tower. Jiraiya should be there by now and he'll be able to help with both my and the Uchiha brats curse seal." said Anko as she motioned toward the unconscious Uchiha.

"What are you talking about?! Even if Jiraiya-sama is at the Tower, with Orochimaru in the village a state of emergency will be declared!! Your little exam is over!" shouted the ANBU.

Anko just looked at the two ANBU and said "I'll explain everything when we get to the Tower. Ask Hokage-sama to meet us there."

"Actually the old man should be there by now." interrupted Naruto as he came back over toward the group.

One of the ANBU looked at Naruto and said "What do you mean?"

"Well, when I found out Anko-neechan went after the snake freak by herself I sent Kaasan a message. So I figure that she's informed the old man by now." said Naruto.

Just then Sai landed in the clearing and looked around before he said "What's going on?"

One of the ANBU turned to face him and said "You don't need to know. All you should be concerned with is the fact that Sasuke will have to accompany us to the Tower, so it looks like he'll be disqualified."

"Not necessarily, we already have both scrolls, so we were already on our way to the Tower." said Sai as he pulled out the earth scroll.

The ANBU nodded his head and as he picked up Sasuke he said "Then you two will follow us to the Tower so we can get him look at."

Both Sakura and Sai nodded their heads and took off after the ANBU that carried Sasuke. They were followed shortly by Kushina with Anko on her back, Haku with Yamato and Naruto who had a rope attached to Kin's bindings.

Once the area was completely clear a figure shrouded in a black cloak that completely cover his face came out of the ground. He then looked in the direction everyone went when he said "You do have some potential Sasuke. I'll leave you in this village for awhile, but if your skills don't improve soon. I'll just have to train you myself. For if your skills remain as they are now, then all my planning will be for nothing, and that is something I will not tolerate. I've come too far to be stopped now."

Next Chapter: Shadow's message and Yugito's warning!

Author's Note2: Well I hope you like this chapter, and I think I'll leave Kin's fate up to you. Well until next time.

Poll: Kin's fate.

1. Kin lives and eventually joins Kumori.

2. Kin lives and is let go.

3. Kin dies.


	20. Shadow’s message and Yugito’s warning!

-1

"Speech"

'_Thoughts'_

**Demon/Summon/inner Sakura speech**

_**Demon/Summon thoughts**_

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or any of the characters created by Kishimoto, but all OC's are my own creation.

Vilkath: I'm sorry you were disappointed in Shadow's skills, but I think I should point out that Shadow didn't get outdone by Kabuto. I tried to have it so that every time one made a move the other countered it so they were pretty much even at the time, and on a side note while Kabuto was trying to kill Shadow, Shadow wasn't. He was looking for an opportunity to take Kabuto alive. Also Orochimaru was the one that ended this fight, but I plan to have them resolve this at a later date. So the next time I write it I'll try to do better.

shadowwriter329: If you're referring to the pairing it's Naru/femHaku.

darthme1011: I'm going to try and start it during the finals and work from there.

Narutomaniac: You bring up a very good point, and while he may not be disqualified here because technically killing was aloud, and he only threatened them and never went through with it. His actions will now be under serious scrutiny by the Hokage and those actions will eventually come back to bit him in the butt.

Diablo200030002002: Yes they will, and it will be during the Sasuke fight.

Brother.Grief: All I can tell you is; that Tsunade, Shizune, and Anko would never abandon Naruto, now as for your questions they will be answered a couple of chapters after the sand/sound invasion.

ClarkX100: I've thought about it and I may add in the second pairing. (I haven't really decided yet)

Anihilation: To answer your first question, I'm not really sure right now, I wasn't a big fan of hers before the time-skip, but afterwards she started to grow on me so I may have her redeem herself later on. Now as for her training: Kakashi will take a more active role in this after the Sasuke retrieval arc. As for Sasuke I have plans for him, but you will get to see his beat down when he faces Naruto in the Finals. Now about More Nar/Haku scenes I'm working on adding more and they will become more involved after the third part of the exam is over.

Author's Note: Well I've been unable to contact my beta reader this past week, so here's the beta for the next chapter. Now I bet your wondering how the prelims are going to happen now that so many of the matches will be different. Well I can tell you that only two of the match ups will be the same as cannon (they will be Gaara vs. Lee and Hinata vs. Neji), now this doesn't mean the fights will happen the same way though. I also wanted to let everyone know that Kakashi will find out about Naruto's lineage in the next chapter.

Now on with the Story

Chapter 20: Shadow's message and Yugito's warning!

Naruto and the others made it to the Tower, and were greeted by a medic squad who took all injured parties to the infirmary. Once the medics had taken Anko and the others to the infirmary, two ANBU members that were stationed at the Tower approached Naruto and said "Uzumaki-san, we will now take the Oto shinobi into our custody."

"Sorry, no can do pal. She's in my custody and that's where she'll stay." said Naruto as he stared down the ANBU while he thought _'Yeah right, after what this village did to me. You think I'll trust you with the safety of a prisoner caught by me.'_

"Look kid you don't have the authority here. So just hand over the Oto shinobi, and there won't be any trouble." said The ANBU.

"He might note have the authority, but I do. This shinobi was taken into custody by a Kumori representative, so if there is to be any transfer of custody I'm the one that has to approve it." said Kushina as she walked up to the ANBU.

The ANBU looked at Kushina and said "I'm sorry ma'am, but the arrest took place within Konoha borders. So it's our responsibility to handle the matter."

"That only applies to matters that involve Konoha. This matter however, doesn't. It's an ongoing investigation into the attempted murder of one of my people, so back off." said Kushina as she glared at the ANBU.

"Kushina-san does have a point; it's got nothing to do with Konoha. So she has my permission to keep the shinobi in question in her custody." said Sarutobi as he walked up to the two.

Kushina bowed her head in appreciation as she said "Thank you Hokage-sama. I've already sent word to my village, and four of my Kage Ga-Do (Shadow Guard) are already on their way to interrogate her. So if I could have your permission Hokage-sama, I'd like to use one of your holding cells until they arrive."

Sarutobi thought about it for a moment before he said "Very well, but if there is any information that involves Konoha I want to be informed immediately."

"Of course, but I will only tell you personally, no one else." said Kushina as she nodded her head and then headed over toward Naruto and Kin.

After Kushina left; the ANBU looked at Sarutobi and said "Hokage-sama are you sure about this? I mean she was arrested on our soil after all."

"It's fine, if they discover anything they'll tell me. Now get back to your post, and don't mention this to anyone. Understood?"

"Hai Hokage-sama." said the ANBU as he disappeared in a swirl of leaves.

Sarutobi then looked over ant Kushina and Naruto and thought _'I hope you find the answers you're looking for.'_

Once Kushina made it over to Naruto she said "Naruto-kun let me take over, I'll take her to the holding cell, so why don't you go and check on Anko-Chan."

"Thanks Kushina, I think I'll do that. Oh and Kushina? When this exam is over do you think I could ask this Oto shinobi some questions? There are some things I'd like to know." said Naruto as he looked at Kushina and waited for an answer.

Kushina let a smile cross her face as she said "Of course you can Naruto-kun. Once my Kage Ga-Do arrive I'll set up a time. Ok? Now I have to get going, the longer this Oto shinobi is out in the open the greater the chance of something happening to her."

"Kin."

"What?" asked Kushina as she looked at the Oto shinobi that just spoke.

"I said my names Kin, so stop calling me 'this Oto Shinobi' alright? It was bad enough to be treated like dirt back in Oto, but that makes it sound like I'm not even human." said Kin as she lowered her head and looked at the floor.

Kushina just looked at Kin for a moment before she said "Fair enough, and as long as you're in my care, you'll always be treated like a human."

Kin nodded her head as Kushina took the rope that was attached to her bindings, form Naruto and then lead her to her holding cell.

After Kushina took Kin away, Naruto and Haku where about to leave the main area when they suddenly heard voices say "I told you Naruto-sama wasn't here."

Naruto got a curious look on his face when he heard his name used with such respect, by a voice he didn't recognize. So both he and Haku moved closer to the voices when they heard another voice say "Well, we already searched the forest. So this seemed like the only place he could be."

Just then NiYal, Anika, and Tsunami came out of the corridor and almost ran into Naruto and Haku, who managed to step out of the way at the last second. NiYal faced Haku, who he nearly ran over and said "Sorry about that, we should have been paying more attention to our surroundings. Wait, weren't you with…"

He then turned toward Naruto and his eyes widened for a moment before he bowed his head and got down on one knee shortly followed by his two teammates as he said "My apologies Naruto-sama. I didn't think we would meet you like this."

Naruto let out a sigh as looked at the three kneeling Kumori shinobi, so he knelt down and helped NiYal back to his feet as he said "Don't do that, I've done nothing to warrant such respect."

As NiYal got to his feet he said "On the contrary Naruto-sama, aside from you being our leaders son, we heard about your adventures in Wave, and your actions there more than warrant respect."

"Don't call me Naruto-sama, it just doesn't feel right." said Naruto as he looked at the three Kumori shinobi.

Tsunami looked shocked at this prospect and said "We can't do that Naruto-sama! Anything else would seem too disrespectful."

"No it wouldn't, I like talking to people on a friendly level. So if you must you can call me…" said Naruto before he was interrupted when they heard the door to the Tower being opened. When they looked in that direction they saw Shadow stumble in before he fell to the ground.

"Shadow-san!!" shouted all three of the Kumori shinobi as they ran over to the fallen Shadow, followed shortly by Naruto and Haku.

After Naruto shoved the Kumori shinobi out of the way he examined Shadow's wound before he thought _'The cut's pretty deep, he's lost a lot of blood, and it looks like some of the skin and muscle has blackened due to tissue degradation. Its looks like he's been poisoned as well, and from the look of it, it's some kind of snake venom. But at least some basic field triage was done, so he has a chance! Man, whoever he ran into wanted to make sure he died even if he escaped.'_

Naruto the picked up Shadow and turned toward Haku and said "Haku-Chan, I'm taking him to the infirmary! Go and tell my Kaasan about what's happened, and let her know that I might need her help with the poison extraction!"

"Hai!" said Haku as she disappeared in a whirl of leaves. Naruto then ran towards the infirmary.

(Infirmary)

Sarutobi had just finished with Anko's seal when she said "Hokage-sama there's something you should know."

"Oh? And what would that be?" asked a curious Sarutobi.

Anko took a deep breath and said "I'm sure by now you're aware of the Curse mark Orochimaru gave the Uchiha."

"Yes I'm aware, but don't worry about that Kakashi is dealing with that as we speak."

"That's not what I'm concerned about. In the forest the seal activated and he used its power to kill two genin from Oto, but that's not all… After the Gaki confronted him, the Uchiha said that if he hadn't come out then, he would have killed every single person present until he did, and that included his fellow Konoha shinobi." said Anko as she narrowed her eyes at the memory.

Sarutobi got a serious look on his face as he said "This is most troubling, I'll have to think on this matter." _'This is serious, but were his actions because of the curse seal or were they his own? I'll have to look into this matter before I pass judgment.'_

Just then, Naruto kicked open the door to the infirmary and shouted "I've got a wounded man here! Get me at least two units of blood, the strongest anti-snake venom you've got, clean bandages and some hot water! STAT!"

When the medics in the infirmary just stood there and stared at him blankly, he got a little irritated and after he put Shadow down on one of the beds he was about to say something when Sarutobi shouted "What the are you waiting for?! Do you want that man to die?!"

Once they heard Sarutobi's comment the medics quickly got all the supplies that Naruto would need. Naruto nodded his head in thanks before he channeled chakra around his hands and started the process of extracting the poison from Shadow. As the surrounding medics marveled at the ease of which Naruto removed the poison, Tsunade and Shizune came through the door and went directly over to the bed.

Tsunade couldn't help but smile when she saw the look on all of the medic's faces, and especially Sarutobi's expression, before she went beside Naruto just as he put the liquid poison into a nearby vial. Once he was done Tsunade said "Naru-Chan start repairing the damaged tissue, while I see if there is anymore poison in his bloodstream. Shizune, get the bandages and disinfectant ready. We'll need them once Naru-chan's finishes his task."

As Naruto continued to work on Shadow's wound; Shadow's hand suddenly grabbed Naruto's wrist, he then whispered "N-Naruto-sama listen… Hokage's in d-danger… there's a traitor… w-wants Jutsu… from O-Orochimaru…"

Shadow grip on Naruto's wrist loosened as he passed out from exhaustion, thus leaving a confused Naruto and Tsunade to ponder his words.

(In the waiting room)

NiYal, Tsunami, Anika, and Haku waited patently for any news on Shadow's condition, when Jiraiya, Kushina, and Akira came in. Kushina looked at the three Genin and asked "How's Shadow doing?"

"We don't know Kushina-sama. Naruto-sama, and Tsunade-sama are still working on him." said NiYal as he slightly bowed his head.

"I see. So what can you tell about what happened to Shadow?" asked Kushina as both Jiraiya and Akira turned to listen.

Tsunami stepped forward and said "From what I saw, Shadow-san had a massive wound to his abdomen, and Naruto-sama mentioned something about poison in his system."

"Poisoned? There's no way that this Kabuto guy gave Shadow this much trouble. I mean Shadow should be able to go toe to toe with Kakashi. So what happened? Do you think it could have been Orochimaru himself?" asked Kushina as she looked over at Jiraiya.

Jiraiya got into a thinking posture and after a moment of silence he said "I wish I could tell you. All I know is that none of my informants have seen him, and as for Kabuto, I wish I could tell you his skill level, but I've never even seen him outside of a Rasengan."

"Well will wonders never cease? I never thought I'd live to see the day that Ero-sennin, was completely serious with so many ladies present, without a threat of some kind." said Naruto as Tsunade, Sarutobi and himself came out of the infirmary.

Everyone ignored Jiraiya hurt expression and went over to them. Kushina was the first to ask "So how's he doing?"

Tsunade looked at all of them and then let a smile cross her face as she said "He's sedated right now, but he'll be just fine, give him about a week and he should be back to normal."

A look of relief passed over faces of all the Kumori shinobi. It was at this point that Kushina gave them a slight bow and said "Thank-you for saving his life."

Tsunade put her hand on top of Naruto's head and started to rub his hair as she said "Oh don't thank me, all I really did was supervise, and make sure the poison was out of his system. Naru-Chan here did most of the work; you should have seen the look on all the medic's faces, when they saw Naru-Chan's medical skill. I swear their chins hit the floor."

Naruto got an annoyed look on his face as he knocked Tsunade's hand away and said "Stop it Kaasan! You're embarrassing me! And anyway I think your giving me too much credit; all I did was apply what you taught me. But enough about that, I think we need to talk about what he was doing in the forest to begin with."

"Does that mean he said something Naruto-kun?" said Kushina as she moved closer to Naruto.

Before Naruto could even say anything Tsunade looked at both Sarutobi and Kushina as she said "Yes he did, but all he said was Naruto-sama listen, Hokage's in danger, there's a traitor, wants jutsu, and then he said from Orochimaru. So, do either of you know what he's talking about?"

After a moment of contemplation Kushina said "Not really, I ordered him to find out what Kabuto was up too, and if he was a threat to Naruto-kun, I told him to take Kabuto out. What about you Sarutobi?"

"No I don't, but this news is very troubling. If there is a traitor in this village, Kabuto could have been his contact. Which means Kabuto's skill level has to be pretty high in order to do that to your shinobi." said Sarutobi as he got a worried expression on his face.

"I don't think Kabuto did this, while it true that he's used weapons laced with poison in the past, this cut was made by a sword. Oh and another thing, this poison looks like the same one that was in Yamato's wound, but in much higher quantities." interrupted Naruto

"It was Orochimaru." said Jiraiya as he pushed himself off the wall before he continued "You said it yourself, Shadow mentioned him by name and as for the rest of his message… I'll look into it myself, if there really is a traitor in the village I'll find out who it is."

Tsunade lowered her head slightly while she pinched the bridge of her nose and let out a deep sigh before she said "You know this situation is starting to become really complicated. The only reason we originally came here, was to find out why Danzou wanted Naru-Chan dead, and while we're looking into that, we stumble into this mess."

"Oh speaking of that, my contacts have found something interesting. They inform me that he's planning something big, and it seems he fears that Naruto will join forces with Anko and put a wrench into his plans. So I'm guessing that his plan involves something that belonged to the Namikaze Clan, but I still don't know if it's a jutsu or a family heirloom. Now with the information we just got from Shadow, it wouldn't be a far off guess that our unknown traitor is Danzou, and if the traitor is him, than you know what that means." said Jiraiya in a very serious tone of voice as he looked at Tsunade and then shifted his gaze toward Kushina.

Tsunade got her own serious look and said "It means that Danzou is after a jutsu, and it would have to be a pretty powerful one at that."

"But the question is which one? Minato-kun created many powerful jutsu's ranging from Fuuinjutsu to Ninjutsu, and he even created a couple powerful Genjutsu's as well. There's just too many to narrow it down." said Kushina as she started to think of all the different jutsu that Minato created.

"I suggest we keep this to ourselves for now. You both know I can't do anything legally until we have hard evidence to back this up. So for now we'll act like we don't know anything, while Jiraiya gets the evidence we require." said Sarutobi as the others nodded in agreement.

It was at this point that Jiraiya noticed that Naruto just stared at him with a wary look in his eyes, so he said "What's with you?"

"You're starting to scare me Ero-sennin. I've never seen you this serious for so long before, and to top it all off, your idea is actually… plausible. You keep this up and I might suspect that we're talking to a henge." said Naruto as he continued to stare at Jiraiya.

Jiraiya got a hurt look on his face before he said "What are you talking about brat, I'm always serious! Especially with the LADIES!! Now just leave it all to me, and I'll get to the bottom of it!"

As Jiraiya got into one of his poses many of the people present just sweat dropped while Tsunade clinched her fist and got a pissed off look on her face. Naruto just shook his head while he let out a sigh before he said "Well at least we know that this is the real Ero-sennin. Nobody else would do something like that."

After everyone had a good laugh at Jiraiya's expense, Kushina then looked at the group and said "All right everyone, while Jiraiya looks into this matter I suggest that we take the next couple of days to rest and think things through. Until I talk to Shadow we won't have the full story, so might as well take it easy, but don't let your guard down."

Everyone nodded their heads in agreement and went off towards their rooms. Once everyone else was gone Kushina turned to Tsunade and asked "What do you think about all this Tsunade-sama?"

"I don't like it, we're operating in the dark here, and who knows what Danzou is really planning. I doubt it's just to get a specific jutsu, that's too much work even for him. There's got to be something else behind it all, but the question is what?" said Tsunade as she made her way over to a window and looked out into the forest.

(A short time later with Naruto and Haku)

Naruto and Haku were on their way to their assigned room when both of them suddenly stopped. They both looked around the area before Naruto got a half smile on his face as he said "What the hell are you doing here Yugito? But more importantly, how the HELL did you get to the Tower unnoticed?!"

Yugito came out of an opening in the ceiling and landed in front of Naruto. As she stood up straight a smile crossed her face as she said "I'm just good at what I do."

"Uh-huh, now tell me what you're doing here? I thought you wouldn't come until the start of the final part of the Chunin Exams one month from now." said Naruto as he crossed his arms in front of his chest.

Yugito got a serious look on her face as she said "Naruto, we've got a problem?"

"A Problem?" said both Naruto and Haku.

"Yes a problem. After I returned to inform Raikage-sama of our alliance, He told me that the Otokage came and offered him a proposal…" said Yugito as she brought her hand up to her chin and got lost in her thoughts.

Haku narrowed her eyes when she heard Otokage, while Naruto got a curious look on his face when he noticed Yugito lost in her thoughts and after a few moments of silence he said "What was the snake freak's proposal?"

Yugito came out of her thoughts and said "Oh sorry about that. As I was saying, The Otokage wanted us to join forces with him in his plan to assault Konohagakure no Sato."

"He wants your help in attacking Konoha!" said Naruto as his eyes widened slightly in shock.

"SSHHH!! Not so loud. If Konoha finds out about this than they'll stop at nothing to capture me so they could get all the details." said Yugito as she put her index finger in front of her lips to quiet Naruto down.

Naruto got an apologetic look on his face while Haku said "Don't worry, there isn't a Konoha shinobi nearby."

"More importantly, did you accept their offer?" asked Naruto.

"When Raikage-sama saw me, he told the Otokage that he'd think about it. Once he left I gave Raikage-sama my report and he then ordered me to find a way to contact you, and find out your opinion on this."

"Wait a minute! Why would your Raikage worry about my opinion on whether or not you join Oto and go to war with Konoha?" asked a curious Naruto.

"For some reason he doesn't want to risk our alliance with this, and told me to get your consent before we proceed. Personally, I think he just doesn't want to piss off Kyuubi-sama."

"**Smart man, he obviously has heard of my reputation and doesn't want to offend Me."** said Kyuubi as she got a big smile on her face.

'_Knock it of Baa-Chan, this is serious. Damn it! As if things weren't complicated enough! We were just suppose to come in here take this exam, so we could find out why this Danzou guy wanted me dead, and now Kumo gets thrown into the mix! What's next?! Am I going to have some kind of heartwarming reunion with my father?!'_

"**I think you're over exaggerating kit. But you do have a point; this situation is starting to become too complicated. So what will you do, hmm? Will you join Oto and attack that damnable Konoha, or refuse and aid Konoha against Oto?"**

'_I'd rather go with option three, and just not get involved.'_

Naruto was brought out of his conversation with Kyuubi when Haku taped him on the shoulder and said "Naruto-kun, what are we going to do about this?"

"Well, I won't be joining Oto. That snake bastard has already tried to kill both me and Anko-neechan. So I'll see him dead before I ever join forces with him." said Naruto as he clinched his fist and narrowed his eyes.

Yugito just looked at Naruto for a moment and when she saw the fierce look in his eyes she said "You know the attempt on your life is more than enough cause for Kumo to declare war on Oto."

"Really? That gives me an idea, but I'll need to discuss it with the others first." said Naruto as he brought his hand up to his chin in a thinking position.

"Naruto-kun what are you thinking?" said Haku.

Naruto looked over at Haku and said "Just a way to teach that snake freak a lesson. Now Yugito can you lay low until I talk this over with my Kaasan?"

"Sure, but Raikage-sama will expect me to send a message within the next five days. So will everything be decided by then?" asked Yugito as she started to wonder just what Naruto has planned.

"Not a problem, in fact a little later tonight I'll be making some victory Ramen and have it with my Kaasan. So I'll just discuss it then." said Naruto when suddenly both they all turned to look at the other end of the hallway just in time to see Gaara, Temari, and Kankurou come around the corner.

When Gaara saw the three of them he came to a stop and just stared at Naruto. The moment Gaara stopped Kankurou said "Hey, what's the deal Gaara?"

Gaara ignored the question and moved toward Naruto. Once he got within a few feet of Naruto his sand started to churn around him and he said "Uzumaki Naruto tell me. What is the reason for your existence?"

"What?" asked Naruto as he kept his eyes open for any sudden movements from Gaara while Haku kept an eye on his siblings.

"I see the look in your eyes. They hold the same hatred that mine do, but you don't let it consume you. So tell me what is the reason for your existence?" said Gaara as his sand started to move even faster.

'_The same hatred? But when I look in his eyes I also see sadness and loneliness. So, he's had the same past as I have.'_ Thought Naruto as he got a serious look on his face before he said "You've got it wrong, the hatred you speak of died long ago. It died when I found people that accepted me for who I am. They're the ones I live for now, I will do whatever it takes to protect my friends and family."

Gaara just looked at Naruto with a blank face as he said "So you exist for the ones you love, your family. Love? Family? You want to know what family means to me. Their mere hulls of flesh, connected with hatred and murderous intent."

Temari and Kankurou visibly flinched when they heard this and Temari got a said look on her face as she said "Gaara…"

Naruto noticed their reaction and let out a sigh and thought _'So they're his siblings huh? How sad, even though he has a family he's still so alone.'_

When Gaara saw the look in Naruto's eyes he said "Is that pity? Feeling sympathy for anyone is a weakness. You should love only yourself and fight only for yourself. That is the reason for my existence, I live only to kill all other humans other than myself. For as long as there are people for me to kill… than I will not cease to exist."

Naruto shook his head when he heard this and after he let out a sigh he said "So that's what you believe huh? How sad, that kind of thinking will only carry you so far. If you exist only for yourself, you'll eventually be taken down by someone who is protecting something they care about. That is the only way to truly get strong."

Gaara grabbed his forehead as he said "Protecting those you care for, how absurd. I'll show you just how worthless those feelings are!"

The moment Gaara finished talking his sand shout out towards Naruto. Naruto and Haku were about the respond when a sword suddenly cut through Gaara's sand, the cut severed the chakra connection which caused the sand fell harmlessly to the ground. Naruto just looked at this shinobi and thought _'I've heard about this technique, but I never thought I'd actually get to see it. I've definitely got to learn that.'_

The shinobi stood upright and brought his hand to his mouth as he coughed and said "(cough, cough) You now that there's no fighting without a proctors consent. Stop this now or you'll both be disqualified (cough, cough)."

Naruto and Haku both relaxed their stances while Naruto looked over at the proctor and said "You'll even disqualify those that are defending themselves?"

"That's for Hokage-sama to decide (cough, cough). Now will both of you stand down? (Cough, cough)" said the proctor as he looked at Naruto and then Gaara.

A concerned Kankurou looked at Gaara and said "C-Come on Gaara, we didn't come here to be disqualified, remember?"

"Shut-up or I'll kill you." said Gaara as Kankurou flinched and backed away as Gaara looked at Naruto and added "I will kill you."

He then silently turned and continued to his original destination followed by a scared Temari and Kankurou. After they left Naruto thought _'That guy gives me an uneasy feeling, almost like I could have been just like him if I was left in this village with no one.'_

"**If you'd stayed in this village you very well could of kit, you very well could have."**

'_That's not very reassuring, you know that Baa-Chan. You could give some words of encouragement like, that never would have happened, or you're too strong to let that happen. You know something like that.' _

"**I could have kit, but then I wouldn't get to hear you say them."** said Kyuubi as she stifled a laugh.

Naruto just shook his head but before he could come up with a comeback the proctor approached him and said "(cough, cough) You two must be confident in your skills to take on those three shinobi. It was two on three after all."

'_Damn Yugito, I know I told you to lay low, but I didn't think you'd jump through the vent the moment the proctor showed up.'_ thought Naruto as he glanced at the ventilation ducked before he looked at the proctor and said "We've held our own against some ANBU before, so I think three Genin won't be too much of a problem. Now if you'll excuse us, we have to go and meet up with my Kaasan and celebrate our record breaking completion of this part of the Chunin Exams. Later."

As Naruto walked off and disappeared around a corner the proctor got a small smile on his face as he thought _'So he's had contact with Kumo. I wonder what they were talking about.'_

Once they rounded the corner Haku looked at Naruto and said "Naruto-kun? Did you really mean what you said to the proctor back there?"

"What, you mean about us having a victory celebration with Kaasan? Of course I did, we both kicked ass in that second exam. So why not celebrate?"

"But isn't that just suppose to be for you and Tsunade-san? Wouldn't I be an imposition?" asked Haku as she lowered her head slightly to hide her saddened expression.

Naruto stopped in his track and put his hand under Haku's chin and pulled it up slightly so that they were eye to eye before he said "Haku-Chan, never think of yourself as an imposition all right? You're one of my most precious people, so you could never impose."

Haku got a slight blush on her face when she heard that and as they started to walk toward their rooms again, she took hold of his arm and rested her head on his shoulders.

Naruto's cheeks turned a bright shade of crimson as he thought _'Uh? I've never had this happen before. What am I suppose to do here?'_

"**Just let her hold your arm for a while kit , it's her way of telling you that she cares about you. You see, I told you she cared about you that way."** said Kyuubi as a huge grin appeared in her face.

'_That way? You can't be serious Baa-Chan, did you forget what I told you earlier? How could she love someone like me? I'm just…'_

"**Don't you dare finish that sentence kit! She knows all about me and she still cares for you. So don't use that excuse with me."**

'_But when the people of this village find out about it, she'll be treated no different than I am. How can I ask her to endure that?'_

"**Kit she knew all about that before, and she still cares for you. Besides you won't be in this village for much longer. So what's the problem?"**

'_I don't know, it's just I've never had anyone other than my family care about me before. I'm not sure what I should do?'_

"**Just let nature take its course and see where things go from there."**

'_Let Nature take its course huh? I don't know Baa-Chan, I just don't know.'_ thought Naruto as Haku tightened her grip on his arm as they headed for their rooms.

(Later that evening with Tsunade)

Tsunade took another sip of her sake as she leaned on her balcony railing and looked out into the forest, when Jiraiya landed beside her and said "Tsunade, we need to talk."

After she took another sip of her sake she said "And what do we need to talk about?"

"Anko's curse seal." said a very serious Jiraiya.

Tsunade quickly looked at Jiraiya and said "What is it?"

Jiraiya took a deep breath before he said "Well after I helped Anko, I noticed something about the seal. As we suspected, it does inhibit her ability to get any stronger than she is now, but it also appears to be inhibiting her chakra growth. In essence it consuming her chakra and it appears that when her chakra level increases so to does the consumption. Orochimaru really didn't want to run the risk of Anko surpassing her father."

"Jiraiya this chakra consumption... is it at a fatal level?" asked a concerned Tsunade.

"The seal is basically a time bomb, all Orochimaru has to do is increase the consumption and…" said Jiraiya as he got a solemn look on his face.

Tsunade remained silent for a moment before she said "I see… So have you found a way to remove it yet?"

Jiraiya shook his head and in a sad tone of voice said "No, it's a very complicated seal hard to remove. There might be one way… but it's a long shot."

"What is it?" asked Tsunade her attention completely on Jiraiya.

"It's called Tenrai Shi-ru Kaihou (Divine Seal Release); it's something Minato was working on the last time I talked to him. I don't even know if he finished it, or any of inner workings, but he did tell me that he designed it to remove the strongest of seals. I think he planned to use it to on the Hyuuga's curse mark." said Jiraiya as he rested his back against the wall with his head slightly lowered.

Tsunade looked Jiraiya directly in the eyes and said "It's a long shot, but it's still the best chance we got. Please tell me you know where Yondaime-sama kept this scroll."

"Unfortunately I don't, I thought it would be in the Namikaze vault, but no evidence was ever found that it ever resided there. I think we should ask Kushina, she should know where Minato keep all his important works." said Jiraiya as he headed back inside.

He then stopped at the entrance and looked over his shoulder at Tsunade and said "You know, now that Naruto knows about this. What do you think he'll do?"

Tsunade just walked past Jiraiya and went inside; she then looked at the floor just to the left of the doorway and saw three bowls of Ramen lying on the floor before she thought _'Three bowels of Ramen. So he decided to bring Haku-san along did he?'_ "Their probably already searching for Kushina. So we'd better hurry and catch up."

(With Naruto)

Little did Tsunade know how wrong she was, for Naruto and Haku were already on their way towards the Namikaze Vault at the bottom of the Tower. Haku was only a few steps behind Naruto when she asked "Naruto-kun where are we going?"

"If a scroll like that really exists, then it has to be in that secret room Kushina told me about when she took me to the Namikaze Vaults at the bottom of this Tower." said Naruto.

(Flashback- Eight Days Ago)

Kushina and Naruto stood in the middle of the Namikaze Vault and just looked at how barren it was. Kushina clinched her fist and said "Those Bastards! It wasn't enough to ruin our lives, but they have to burglarize the Vault as well!!"

"So I take it all the Fuuinjutsu scrolls are gone?" asked a saddened Naruto as he left out a sigh and looked around the barren room.

"Not necessarily, your father did have a secret vault hidden in here, it was protected by standard methods, then by a Genjutsu, and finally there's a blood seal as the final lock. So that only members of the clan could open the door. He once told me he kept his most important works there." said Kushina as she scanned the room looking for any signs of the room.

Naruto looked at Kushina and asked "So does that mean you know where it is? And more importantly can open it?"

Kushina let out a sigh and said "Unfortunately not. Its clan tradition that anyone brought into the family have their blood added to the seal upon birth of their first child. And before you ask Anko-Chan won't know either, for the children were only to learn of it's location upon their eighteenth birthday."

"So the room's location has been lost since Minato Namikaze died fourteen years ago." said Naruto as he walked up to one of the walls and put his hand on it.

Kushina slightly flinched as she heard Naruto's tone when he referred to his father. So she walked up behind Naruto and said "You know Naruto-kun, Minato-kun really did care about you. He couldn't stop talking about how he was going to teach you all sorts of things, just like he taught Anko before she became a Genin."

Naruto just lowered his head and in a low voice said "He wanted to teach me huh? I wonder…"

"He really did, and he's not the only one. There's some much I want to teach you as well, if you'll accept me that is?" said Kushina as she resisted the urge to hug Naruto.

"We'll see…"

(End Flashback)

"We couldn't find the entrance last time, but it was just the two of us then and I didn't have a very strong motivation to find it. This time however is different." said Naruto as he and Haku entered the main Vault.

"Naruto-kun."

Once inside Naruto looked around the room before he made a quick hand seal and said "Stand back Haku-Chan, I've got just the jutsu for this situation. Well it's time to get to work boys, Tajuu Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!!"

(At the Infirmary)

Kushina had just opened the door to Shadow's room when she saw Shadow awake in his bed with Akira seated right beside him. Kushina got a relieved look on her face and said "I'm glad to see you're awake."

Shadow bowed his head and in an apologetic voice said "I'm sorry sensei, I screwed up. If I hadn't been so focused trying to take Kabuto alive, than I might have detected Orochimaru's attack before it hit me."

When Kushina heard this she said "Don't worry about it, you're safe and that's what really matters. Anyway do you think you could tell me what's going on with this traitor and the jutsu he wants?"

Shadow leaned back in his bed as he said "I can't tell you much only that Orochimaru told Kabuto about being contacted by a middle man, and told that they would assist in Hokage-sama's death if he gave information on a certain jutsu. But as for whom it was and what jutsu they're after, I have no clue, sorry Sensei."

"It's ok Shadow, I didn't think we'd get the info we needed that easily, so I'll have my contacts look into it. You just get some rest."

"Hai sensei." said Shadow as he bowed his head.

Just then Tsunade entered followed shortly by Jiraiya. Tsunade quickly scanned the room and once she was finished she said "Damn it Naru-Chan! Where the hell did you go?"

"What are you talking about?" asked Kushina as she walked over toward Tsunade.

Jiraiya then proceeds to tell Kushina about Anko's curse seal, Jiraiya's plan to get rid of it and the fact that Naruto and Haku overheard the conversation and went off somewhere. He also told her that they figured he'd come and see her to find out where Minato might have kept a scroll of such importance.

Kushina crossed her arms over her chest and thought for a moment before she said "He must be trying to find Minato-kun's secret vault."

"Secret Vault?" asked Tsunade as she raised her right eyebrow in curiosity.

"It was his storage space for all his idea's and experimental Jutsu's. If he was working on it he would have kept it there until he was satisfied that it was a success." said Kushina as she looked at Tsunade before she continued "If Naruto-kun is trying to find it we'll find him in the main Namikaze vault. So let's get going and help him out."

Jiraiya got a skeptical look on his face and said "You're that sure he's down there? Why would he think to look there?"

"Because, that's where I told him it was." said Kushina as she put her hands on her hips.

"Then what are we waiting for let's go." said Tsunade as turned around and headed for the door.

Kushina then turned to Akira and said "Akira, I want you to stay here and keep an eye on Shadow. If any one tries anything take care of them. I'll go with Tsunade-sama, and Jiraiya to look for Naruto-kun and Haku-san."

"Hai Sensei!" said Akira as she bowed her head and then watched as Kushina followed Jiraiya and Tsunade out the door.

(Meanwhile at the Namikaze Vault)

Naruto started to get a little irritated Haku, and his clones have already searched about ninety percent of the vault and found nothing. Once Naruto finished the search in his area he slammed his fist into the wall and thought _'Damn it! Where in the hell is the entrance?! Our best shot at getting rid of Anko-neechan's curse seal is in there!'_

"**Calm down kit, you're no good to Anko like this."**

Naruto couldn't help but let out a laugh as he thought _'Hah, you're one to talk Baa-Chan! Don't all the stories you tell me end with you losing your cool and making the offender pay?'_

"**That's not the same thing! When a lady is insulted their expected to get mad!"** grumbled Kyuubi as rested her head on her paws.

When Naruto slammed his fist into the wall Haku got a sad expression on her face as she thought _'Naruto-kun you must feel so helpless. Your only hope of helping Anko-san is this scroll, and we can't even find the entrance to the room it's being held in.'_

"Boss I found something!!" shouted a clone from a small corner shrouded in shadow.

Naruto made his way over toward the clone and once he got there he examined the wall in the corner and noticed something odd about it. Further examination resulted in Naruto pushing in certain bricks in a certain sequence which resulted in the wall starting to move down into a crevice below.

'_Damn I good.'_ thought Naruto as a smile appeared on his face while the wall started to move down.

'**I don't believe it! Do you know the odds, that you would hit the right bricks in the proper order on your first try?! I swear you've got the devils luck!!"**

Meanwhile Haku's eyes widened in shock as she watched Naruto open the secret wall before she said "H-How did you do that Naruto-kun?

"What the HELL?!" said Naruto as his smile faded once the wall completely moved out of the way and reveal another stone wall right behind it.

Kyuubi looked at the wall in the water's reflection in her cell when something came to her so she said **"Kit remember what Kushina-san said about the vault's protection."**

'_That's right! How could I be so dense? I'm looking at a Genjutsu, now all I have to do is make the proper seal and apply the right amount of chakra to the Genjutsu, and it should be canceled.'_

"**Use my chakra kit, that way you're guaranteed to successfully break it."**

Naruto quickly agreed and started to channel some of Kyuubi's chakra as well as his own. He then made the proper hand seal and placed his hand on the wall as he said "Kai!!"

The Genjutsu lifted and revealed a two thick oak doors with gold lining and a blood seal

in the center. Naruto bit his thumb and smeared the blood on the seal as he said "Well, here goes nothing."

Both Naruto and Haku looked on in amazement as the seal glowed brightly and then disappeared allowing them access to the room beyond. As Naruto stepped into the room first a light came on to reveal a large room lined with many shelves filled with scrolls. Naruto whistled as he said "Look at all these scrolls! I wonder if these were all ideas or are there some completed jutsu scrolls here."

"Look at all them Naruto-kun. There must be thousands in here." said Haku as she stared in awe of sheer size of the room.

"All right boys, you all know your assignments! Now, LET'S GET TO IT!" said Naruto as both he and Haku started to look through the scrolls in front of them.

As all the clones piled into the room Naruto went to his own section and started too looked at the titles on the scrolls. _'Hhhhmmm… let's see, this one's on the theory of combining your elemental affinity with different types of jutsu, this one's ideas for improving something call __Hiraishin no Jutsu_ (Flying Thunder God Technique)_, and this one's about high level Water manipulation, Haku-Chan could make great use of this. Man this place is like a shinobi's jutsu paradise! Now if I can find the scroll on this Fuuinjutsu, than I'll be all set.'_

After Naruto put those scrolls away for later use he started to look through the other ones in front of him when he suddenly heard Haku shout "Naruto-kun I think I found it!!"

'_Damn that was fast.'_ thought Naruto as he made his way over toward Haku. Once she handed over the scroll Naruto looked at the label and a smile formed on his face as it read 'Tenrai Shi-ru Kaihou'.

"Sweet! Now if my luck holds out it's a complete jutsu and all I have to do is learn it." said Naruto as he opened the scroll and started to read it.

Haku got a smile on her face as she thought _'I'm so happy for you Naruto-kun. Now you'll be able to help Anko-san.'_

Naruto lowered his head for a moment before he said "Damn it!! It's hasn't been completed yet! From the look of it, it's about Eighty percent complete, but it should be a little easier to complete with his notes attached to the scroll."

After Naruto closed the scroll and dispersed his clones he and Haku exited the secret room only to have the doors slam shut behind them and the blood seal and Genjutsu reactivated before the wall came back up and locked into place. Naruto looked over at Haku and said "Well, it was a good thing I had a clone write down what bricks I touched and in what order. So it should be a simple matter for us to get back in their."

"I'd say, that place is a shinobi's candy store." said Haku.

Just then Tsunade, Kushina, and Jiraiya walked into the main vault. When Tsunade saw Naruto she walked over to him and lowered her head slightly as she said "Naru-Chan please don't run off like that again, I swear I would have told you, you just happened to overhear us when…"

"There's no need to explain Kaasan. I know you were going to tell me when you had a chance, and I'm sorry about taking off like that, but more importantly, I've got some good news! Take a look at what Haku-Chan found." said Naruto as he waved the scroll in his right hand.

When Jiraiya, Tsunade and Kushina saw the scroll in Naruto's hand their eyes widened and their mouths opened slightly in shock. After Jiraiya got over his shock he took a couple of steps towards Naruto and said "How the hell did you two find that so fast?!"

"You'd be amazed how fast you can find something when you have an entire army helping you. But there nothing compared to Haku-Chan here, she found it before any of my Bunshins did." said Naruto as Haku blushed slightly at the complement from Naruto.

"An entire army? Wait! You're telling us that you were able to…" said Kushina as she got a surprised look on her face.

Naruto got one of his foxy grins and said "That's right I created enough Kage Bunshin's to search the entire vault without them getting in each others way. But we do have one little problem. The Jutsu's was never finished, so it'll take me about a month or two to figure out how to finish it."

"A month or two?! Kid we're talking about one of your father's more advanced Fuuinjutsu's here. I'm not even sure I'll be able to finish it, and I'm a seals master! Besides, how do you plan on completing it? You've only been studying seals for about two weeks." said Jiraiya as he looked at Naruto in disbelief.

"It may have been two weeks for one person, but I've been using my Kage Bunshins to learn Fuuinjutsu as fast as possible. Anko-neechan's life could be on the line here, so I'm using everything at my disposal to help her." said Naruto as he looked Jiraiya square in the eye to show him that he wasn't kidding around.

Jiraiya just looked at the determination in Naruto's eyes before he said "You really think you can complete it in about a month or two?"

"Yes I do. Especially with all the notes that Minato left with the scroll." said Naruto as he nodded his head in agreement.

"If you really think you can do it, I'll let you try. But… I'll be there to help you as well, that way we have a better chance of success, and besides I want to see how far you've come with your Fuuinjutsu training." said Jiraiya as he put his hand out so they could shake on it.

Naruto shook Jiraiya's hand and said "That's fine the more help the better, but I won't fail. I can't fail"

Kushina, Tsunade and Haku looked on in silence as the two talked about the seal and when they can to an agreement Tsunade looked at Naruto and said "Well now that that's settled, what do you say we go and celebrate my teams record breaking achievement."

As everyone nodded in agreement and started to head out of the vault Naruto took a hold of Tsunade's arm and said "Kaasan, we need to talk…"

(Time skip four days later)

All the surviving Teams stood before the Hokage and the other proctors as they waited for the start of the final part of the exam. As Sarutobi looked over all the passing teams he thought _'Remarkable, to think that so many teams made it past the forest, and what's truly surprising is that most of them are rookies.'_

Once everyone quieted down Anko stepped forward and shouted "All right listen up!! Hokage-sama will instruct you on the specifics of the next part of the examinations!"

Anko then turns toward Sarutobi and said "They're all yours Hokage-sama."

"Thank you Anko." said Sarutobi as he stepped forward and looked at all the passing teams before he continued "Now the next part of the exam will be a tournament to showcase your individual skills as a shinobi."

"Individual skills?! But I thought the Chunin Exams were a team effort! What happens if a teammate loses their match?" asked Kiba as a look of shock crossed his face.

Sarutobi looked at Kiba and said "The team part of the exam is over, from here on out you are graded on individual skill. Now I'll turn this over to the proctor of the third exam, Gekkou Hayate."

Suddenly Hayate appeared before Sarutobi; he was on one knee and had a sickly look about him. After he coughed a couple of time he said "Thank-you Hokage-sama,"

Hayate the stood up and face the Genin teams and said "It's nice to meet you all. I'm Gekkou Hayate, and I'll be the proctor for the final part of the exam. (Cough, cough) Now before we begin the exam I must ask you to participate in some preliminaries."

"PRELIMINARIES?! Man this is such a drag, what are you going to make us do now?" said Shikamaru.

Sakura timidly raised he hand and said "What do you mean preliminaries? Why can't all remaining applicants take the final part of the exam?"

"(Cough, cough) Well it appears that the first two tests weren't demanding enough. You see, we still have too many applicants. The final test will be observed by many nobles and a number of honored guests. So we have to make sure that it's intense and fast-paced. (Cough, cough) Now that we have that out of the way. Anyone who doesn't feel up to taking the prelims, take one step forward, because the preliminaries begin right now!" said Hayate as he looked at all the applicants to gauge their reactions.

Sasuke got a smirk on his face and turned towards Naruto and said "Now's your chance dobe. Why don't you give up now and save yourself any embarrassment."

"Sasuke-teme, you do remember that I knocked you out with a single punch in the forest right?" asked Naruto as he gave Sasuke a questioning look.

"Hmmph... that was just a lucky shot. You won't catch me off guard like that again." said Sasuke as he got an angry look on his face and looked away from Naruto before he felt a sharp pain coming from his curse seal.

When Sarutobi saw Sasuke grab at his neck Sarutobi let out a sigh and said "It's as I feared. We'll have to reinforce the seal Kakashi placed on the curse seal after the preliminaries."

Anko took the opportunity and moved closer to Sarutobi and said "Hokage-sama, I still say we should take him out and put him in quarantine under the protection of the ANBU. I mean he did threaten to kill his fellow Konoha shinobi after all."

"We still don't know if that was the effect of the curse seal or note Anko, so don't go making any kind of conclusions. And do you honestly think that he'll go quietly, even if you order him?" said a voice from behind Anko.

Anko quickly turned around and saw Kakashi standing there. Kakashi got a happy look on his face as he said "Don't forget, he is a member of the Uchiha Clan."

"Like I could ever forget that. Especially after what they did." said Anko with a little venom in her voice.

Sarutobi let out a sigh and said "Now now Anko, you know full well that I'm concerned about what Orochimaru said… So until we ascertain whether it was the seals influence or his own doing, we'll let him compete, but if the suppression of the curse seal fails and it spreads, we'll take the proper steps to restrain him."

"As you wish Hokage-sama." said Anko as she bowed her head and then glared at the impassive face of Kakashi and thought _'You'd better pray that it was the influence of the seal Kakashi, otherwise I'll kill him myself. No one threatens my little otouto and gets away with it.' _

Once all that was settled Sarutobi gave Hayate the signal to start the preliminaries. Hayate nodded his head he turned to the applicants, he was impressed that none of them quit so he said "(cough, cough) Well then… since none of you have decided to quit, we'll begin the preliminaries. Since there are a total of twenty combatants here, this mean we'll hold a total of ten bouts. (Cough, cough) And as you can guess, the winner of the bout will advance to the final exam."

Hayate took a slight pause to let that part sink in before he continued "This will be no-hold-barred combat. Each match will continue until one of the combatants is dead, unable to continue, or admits defeat. So if you value his life, once you sense that your opponent is over powering you, I suggest you admit defeat. Also if we ascertain that there is an undisputed winner, we'll step in and stop the match, but don't count on it. (Cough, cough)"

Hayate then turned and gave Anko the signal to open a panel to reveal a huge electronic scoreboard. Once the board is completely revealed Hayate said "From this point on your fate will be decided from this scoreboard. At the start of every match we will display the two combatants on the board. So let's begin, we will now display the first two combatants."

As the scoreboard came to life and randomly went through all the names of the applicants the room was so quiet that you could hear a pin drop. After what seemed like minutes but in reality only a few seconds the board announced the first two combatants:

**Uzumaki Naruto vs. Sai**

Naruto slammed his fist into his palm as he said "First up to bat eh? Well then, let's have some fun!"

Next Chapter: The First Round! Naruto vs. Sai!

Authors Note2: Well the prelims have finally begun; it will take a couple of chapters to get through all of the fights. I'm going to try and cover about three fights or more per chapter.

Now as for the poll on Kin's fate, here are the results so far.

1. Kin lives and eventually joins Kumori.(67)

2. Kin lives and is let go.(8)

3. Kin dies.(8)

Well it looks like option one has a huge lead right now, but I'll keep this poll open for a couple more chapters. So I hope you liked this chapter and I'll see you all next time.


	21. Chapter 21: Naruto vs Sai!

-1

"Speech"

'_Thoughts'_

**Demon/Summon/inner Sakura speech**

_**Demon/Summon thoughts**_

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or any of the characters created by Kishimoto, but all OC's are my own creation.

Beta Reader:

Life of Nemo: You brought something to my attention, while I've given rough ages for Akira and Ba-yu I haven't given a rough age for shadow. He is the youngest of the group being in his late teens (some where around 17-19). Now as for the whole Kin being his girlfriend, I never really thought about giving him one but if she joins I'll think about it. (May-be I'll make a poll about that one later)

BrownPaperBag51: Yep, Tsunade and Kushina will both train him for the final round while Haku will be trained by Zabuza and Shizune.

Narutomaniac: That's actually a really good idea and if you don't mind I'll add that into the story later on.

TheDon1023: Don't worry the pairing is just going to be Naruto/Fem. Haku pairing

panther73110: I don't want to give too much away but I will say that I'm thinking about it.

clarkX100: To answer your question Minato was in the process of doing just that, so a lot of his scrolls were in the secret vault but not all of them. Also not all of the scrolls belonged to Minato, some of them belonged to other clan members who were working on their own jutsu but for one reason or another they never finished so they just left it in the vault.

Author's Note: Well once again I've been unable to contact my beta; I know he was having computer troubles but I didn't think it would take this long for him to fix them. So he's the beta version for this chapter enjoy.

Now on with the story

--

Chapter 21: The First Round! Naruto vs. Sai!

Kushina tapped her foot as she waited beside the main gate of Konoha. She checked the time one more time before she said "Where are they? The Prelims for the third exam will be starting soon, and I don't want to miss Naruto-kun's match."

Just then the gates of Konoha opened to reveal four figures, two male and two female, who were dressed in black cloaks that covered their features, and while three of them wore black masks in the shape of a bird (Raven, Crow, and Hawk), and the fourth member had their black mask in the shape of a wolf. Kushina looked at the one with the Raven mask and said "What took you so long Raven?"

Raven lowered her head in an apologetic manner and said "I'm sorry Kushina-sama, but the last mission you sent us on, took longer than we thought."

"Than I take it, the mission was successful?"

"Hai Kushina-sama, we were able to successfully complete the mission." said Raven as she raised her head and got back into formation.

A smile formed on Kushina's face as she said "Good, you can give me the full briefing after the preliminary rounds are over."

This caused all four of the Kage Ga-Do to raise their heads slightly as Raven asked "I take it that means Naruto-sama and the others have made it to the final part?"

"Not only did Naruto-kun and the others pass, but Naruto-kun's team broke the previous record by five hours." said a very proud Kushina.

Crow shook his head slightly as he thought _'Naruto-sama beat the record by that much, huh? The last time I saw him he was a little goofball who graved attention. Back then I would have been shocked to hear that, but if I knew then what I know now… It wouldn't surprise me at all.'_

Wolf looked over at Crow and noticed that he was a little distracted so she asked "Hey Crow? Everything all right?"

"Yeah, Just thinking about the past." said Crow as he looked over at Wolf.

Wolf smiled behind her mask as she said "Thinking about Naruto-sama when he was just a four year old boy huh?"

Crow just nodded his head in agreement as he said "Yeah, back then he was always causing trouble around the village, I wonder what he's like now?"

"Well I guess we'll all find out when we meet him face to face, huh?" said Wolf as she put her hand on Crow's shoulder.

Just then Kushina cleared her throat before she said "All right you guys, I don't have much time, and the prelims will be starting any minute now. So I've got a split assignment for you. As you know we captured an Oto shinobi by the name of Kin, but what you don't know is that shortly after that Shadow confronted one of Orochimaru's spies by the name of Kabuto. During this fight Orochimaru intervened and wounded Shadow."

"Is he all right?! How were his wounds treated? Was there any permanent damage? Who's taking care of him as we speak?" asked Raven as her medic side took over and she readied herself for any kind of treatment that Shadow might need.

Kushina looked directly at Raven and said "Don't worry he's just fine and is resting comfortably as we speak. When Shadow arrived at the Tower in Training Ground 44, he had the luck of running into Naruto-kun, who was able to use his medical training and treated Shadow's wounds."

All four of the Kage Ga-Do was shocked to hear that Naruto was such an accomplished medic. When Kushina was sure that she had their attention again and before any of them could ask any questions she continued "If you have any question you can ask him directly. Now as I was saying, I want Raven and Crow to keep an eye on Shadow and make sure no one inhibits his recovery, while Hawk and Wolf interrogate Kin, she's in one of the holding cells at the Tower. Hawk and Wolf, I want you to treat Kin with respect she did surrender herself willingly, so I don't think it will take much to get her to talk. All right that's all I've got to tell you. So I'll be going now, I have some preliminaries to watch."

With that said Kushina disappeared in a swirl of leaves. Once Kushina was gone the group started their trek through Konoha when Crow and Wolf suddenly stopped for a moment. Raven noticed the hesitation of her two teammates and asked "What's wrong you two?"

Crow was the first to come out of his daze as he said "Sorry about that, it's just the last time we were here… was when we were banished from the village. So it's a little unsettling."

"Yeah I know what you mean Crow, but at least Hokage-sama was able to give us our freedom, since we were originally sentenced to death. If that bastard Mizuki hadn't set us up, it never would have happened." said Wolf as she clinched her fist at the memory of what Mizuki did to them.

Raven just looked at the two before she said "I know how you two must feel, it been awhile for me two, but remember we didn't come here to get revenge. When came here to do our job, now lets get going."

"We know that Raven, and we won't let those feelings get in the way of the mission." said Crow as Wolf nodded her head in agreement before all four of them headed off to their assigned task.

(Training Ground 44- Tower Arena)

After the first two opponents were named all other applicants and their respective Sensei's made their way toward the balcony above the area. Once everyone was in position Kushina suddenly appeared in a swirl of leaves right beside Tsunade.

Kushina turned to face Tsunade as she said "Sorry I'm late. The Kage Ga-Do just arrived and I to tell them their assignments. So, what'd I miss?"

While Tsunade informed Kushina what's been going on in her absence, Kakashi looked at Kushina for a moment as he tried to place her. _'Where have I seen her before? She looks so familiar, if I didn't know any better I'd swear she's…It can't be!!'_

Kakashi immediately lifted up his headband and looked at Kushina to see if it was some kind of Genjutsu. After he found no evidence of a Genjutsu he lowered his headband and walked over to Kushina. Once he made it over to Kushina and Tsunade he said "It's been awhile Kushina-san. I was informed that you were killed during the Kyuubi attack. I'm glad to see that you're alive, but why didn't you let me know you were alive sooner?"

Kushina turned to look at Kakashi and in a cold tone said "Kakashi."

Kakashi was taken back by Kushina's tone and asked "What's with the harsh tone Kushina-san? And how come you stayed away for so long?"

"I have my reasons Kakashi, and I'm only back here, so that I could watch my SON take the exams." said Kushina in a scolding tone as she turned her attention back to the arena.

"You're son? But he's…" said Kakashi as he saw Kushina look down into the arena. That's when it suddenly hit him like a ton of brick's; he looked down into the arena and finished with "Naruto."

This comment caught the attention of all the Jonin on the balcony and as all their eyes widened in realization, Kurenai turned to look at Anko, who had just left the Hokage's side and was on her way over towards Kushina and the others, before she thought _'Why didn't you tell me Anko?'_

A smile crossed Kushina's face as she heard Kakashi's words. She then turned her attention back toward Kakashi and said "You've only figured it out now? And here I thought you were taught to look underneath the underneath. Now you should know the answer to your other question."

"But I never treated him badly. I even helped in the search when he was assaulted all those years ago." said Kakashi as he suddenly felt like he was being scolded by his old sensei.

Kushina tightened her fist as she shifted her gaze over toward Kakashi as she said "Never treated him badly? When you let the ones who try to harm him go unpunished, you're just as guilty as they are."

Kakashi's visible eye widened slightly before he calmly said "So they told you about that did they."

"You thought that they wouldn't tell me about incident on the bridge?!" shouted Kushina as she glared at Kakashi.

Kakashi lowered his head slightly and when he noticed Anko arrive he decided to change the focus a little, so he asked "Anko? Why didn't you ever tell me about Naruto?"

Anko looked Kakashi in the eyes and said "Yeah, like I knew the Gaki's lineage back then, and even if I did I wouldn't have told you. You would've turned him into a pervert like yourself."

"I'm not a pervert. And I would never do that Anko." said Kakashi.

"Uh-huh, like I believe that." said Anko as she crossed her arms over her chest.

Before their argument could go any further Kushina stepped in and said "Will you two cut it out! The match is about to begin."

Hayate looked at both Naruto and Sai and once he decided they were ready he lowered his left hand and said "All right, BEGIN!!"

Naruto quickly sidestepped as Sai came in with a punch to the face. Sai then went for a spinning roundhouse kick to the head which Naruto easily ducked and countered with a sweep to the leg.

When Naruto's sweep knocked Sai's feet out from under him, Sai rotated his body and did a back flip so that he landed on his feet. Sai then got back into his fighting stance and did a side kick to the torso and when that was blocked he went for another punch to the face.

Naruto got a slight smile on his face as he sidestepped the punch, he then grabbed Sai's wrist and said "Not bad, your stance is solid, your style is pretty fluid and you're swift with your attacks. This is going to be fun after all."

He then let go of Sai's wrist right and landed a punch to Sai's torso, which knocked him back a few feet. After Sai got to his feet he pulled out his sword and said "That punch sure was weak, are you sure you even have a dick?"

Naruto got a look of disbelief on his face before he shook his head before he pulled out his Kodochi and said "Whatever… But since you seem so eager to use your sword, I'll show you the power of 'Kyuubi's Claw'."

Many of the Konoha Genin looked curiously at Naruto when they heard the name of his sword but Sakura was the one to voice their question. "Kyuubi's Claw? Why would he name his weapon after the demon that attacked Konoha fourteen years ago? Does he hate our village that much that he did it out of spite?"

Tsunade started to chuckle when she heard this and after a few moments she said "That's not it at all. He chose that name very carefully and if you're lucky he'll show you the reason behind the name. But don't count on it."

With that said everyone turned their attention back toward the match.

The sound of metal hitting metal could be heard as Naruto blocked everyone of Sai's sword strikes. After the last block Sai twisted his body and used that momentum to do a backward slash at Naruto's neck.

Naruto twisted his own body so that the blade passed mere inches above his nose. He then continued the twist and backhanded Sai right across the face, which caused Sai to stager backwards a couple of steps. Naruto then pointed his sword so that the tip of his blade was only a few inches from the bridge of Sai's nose and said "Damn what's with you? That's the third time I blocked a lethal slash. Don't you think you're taking this a bit too far?"

Sai knocked the sword away and got in a defensive stance as he said "Not really dickless, death is permitted after all. And besides, for the wellbeing of Konoha…"

Sai then suddenly charged Naruto and did a downward slash. Once Naruto block the attack Sai leaned in so he could get closer to Naruto and once they were face to face he said "I'm going to kill you."

Naruto then used his strength to shove Sai back several feet before he said "I see, so you're just like all of those villagers huh? Fine then, show me every ounce of hatred you've got!"

"Those villagers? What's he talking about?" asked Ten-Ten as she looked at all of the Jonin for an answer.

Before any of the Jonin could answer her question Haku spoke up "Naruto-kun's talking about the fact that most of the people in _THIS_ _VILLAGE_ hate him so much that they want him dead."

"You can't be serious! Konoha is one of the nicest villages around here! We'd never treat anyone with the kind of hatred you're describing. Right Asuma-sensei?" shouted a defensive Ino as she looked at Asuma for reassurance.

When Asuma remained quiet and lowered his head slightly Ino got a concerned look on her face and said "Asuma-sensei?"

But before he could answer they all heard Sai say "As you wish."

Back on the arena floor Sai pulled out a scroll, and opened it to reveal a picture of a giant Ogre before he said "Ninpo: Choujii Giga" (Ninja art: Super Beast Imitation)

Naruto watched as the Ogre sprang from the page. When the Ogre charged, Naruto didn't move an inch; he just stood there and glared at the Ogre as it slammed its fist right on his head. The impact caused a huge amount of dust to erupt completely blocking everyone's view of what happened.

Hinata got a worried look on her face as she said "Naruto-kun."

Tsunade looked over at Hinata and when she saw her worried expression she put a reassuring smile on her face as she said "Don't worry Hinata, a weak hit like that isn't enough to stop my Naru-Chan."

"A weak hit?! That thing just caused a massive amount of dust from one blow, and you call that a weak hit Tsunade-sama?!" said Sakura as everyone turned to look at the two.

"Your forgetting who trained him _Haruno-san_, I hardly have to hold any of my strength back anymore when we spar." said Tsunade as she turned her attention back to the arena floor before she added "Just watch, you'll all see what I mean very shortly.".

As the dust settled it revealed that Naruto was still standing in his original position with his head slightly lowered so that his hair covered his eyes and his left hand was above his head to block the punch.

"No way!! He blocked it with one hand!!" shouted Ino while Sasuke clinched his fist and silently seethed at Naruto's display of power.

'_Impressive, perhaps this one will provide a worthy challenge.'_ thought Neji as he let a smile cross his face

Flames erupted in both of Lee's eyes as he shouted "Yosh!! Naruto-kun's flames of youth burn brightly!"

Tsunade got a big smile on her face as she said "See, what did I tell you."

Naruto raised his head so everyone could see the fierceness in his eyes as he said "Is that the best you've got? Because if you're really trying to kill me…"

He then tightened his grip on the Ogre's hand as he twisted his body and threw the Ogre across the room as he shouted "THAT WON'T NEARLY BE GOOD ENOUGH!!"

The Ogre exploded into ink the moment it made contact with the wall, and after that Naruto turned around and faced Sai once more before he said "Your move."

Sai remained emotionless as he created about a dozen lions, which quickly surrounded Naruto. Once he was surrounded Naruto looked from left to right and after he analyzed the situation he thought _'Twelve of them eh? I could use Kage Bunshin to defeat them, but that would be too easy. Besides I have something better in mind.'_

As Naruto tightened his grip on his sword he started to channel some of his chakra into his sword, just as he finished all twelve of the lions attacked at once. Naruto sprung into action and at a high speed slashed at all of the lions while his blade never got closer than six inches from his targets. Once he finished his strikes he sheathed his sword, a moment later all the lions exploded into ink.

"Impossible!! He didn't even touch those lions!" shouted Sakura as she looked on in disbelief.

Asuma ignored Sakura's outburst and said "Impressive, to think that one so young, would have such mastery over wind manipulation."

Chouji looked at Asuma with a puzzled look on his face as he asked "Wind manipulation? What are you talking about Asuma-sensei?"

"He was able to focus his chakra and use the very wind to extend the length of his blade, thus increasing the range of his attack… Did you teach him that Tsunade-sama?" said Asuma as he turned to look at Tsunade.

Tsunade shook her head and then looked over at Asuma before she pointed to Zabuza and said "Nope, Zabuza taught him swordsmanship. So if you have any questions ask him."

When everyone turned their attention towards Zabuza he merely leaned back against the wall and said "I may have taught the boy swordsmanship, but he learned how to do that all on his own."

Asuma's eyes widened in shock before he looked at Naruto and thought _'He managed to get to this level all on his own! It makes you wonder what he'll be capable of in the future.'_

Back on the arena floor Naruto got a very serious look on his face as he looked at Sai and said "And now… It's my turn."

Naruto then moved at a very high speed and delivered a massive uppercut directly to Sai's jaw which sent him sailing into the air. Then before anyone could blink Naruto appeared above Sai and said "This one's for you Anko-neechan! Kage Bunshins Senei Jashu no Jutsu!" (Shadow clones Hidden Shadow Snake Hands)

'_What the hell?! When did he…?!'_ thought Anko as her eyes widened in shock when she saw four snakes come out of his right sleeve and bite into Sai's arms and legs.

Naruto then twisted his body so that Sai would rotate around him and go flying back toward the ground. When the rotation was complete the snakes released their grip on Naruto and went with Sai as he was sent sailing downwards. Then moment he hit the ground the four snakes got off of Sai and surrounded him before they reverted back to normal.

As Sai got to his feet the first bunshin ran in and delivered a punch to Sai's face. As Sai fell backwards the bunshin said "U!"

"ZU!" "MA!" "KI!" was quickly added as the other three bunshins rushed in and delivered powerful sliding kicks to different parts of Sai's body which sent him back up into the air.

Sai's ascension was short lived however as Naruto's heel came down right on his head as Naruto shouted "NARUTO RENDEN!!"

The force of the blow to his head caused Sai to go sailing downwards and created a small crater when he collided with the ground.

"You see, didn't I tell you that this would be one hell of a show!" said NiYal as he looked at Tsunami and Anika.

They could only nod in agreement as they looked down at the crater before Tsunami said "You're not kidding Ba-yu-san will be mad that he missed this fight."

"Yeah, I still can't believe Konoha let someone as talented as Naruto-sama slip right through there fingers. But there lose is our gain." said Anika as a smile appeared on her face as she surveyed the damage to the arena.

NiYal shook his head slightly as he looked at Anika and said "From what I hear Naruto-sama still hasn't decided yet. But since Kushina-sama is trying to build the bond that she should have had with Naruto-sama, who knows what he'll do."

Meanwhile Sarutobi just lowered his hat slightly and let out a sigh as he mumbled "I see Naruto has picked up your bad habit of collateral damage Tsunade."

As Naruto landed at the edge of the crater he saw Hayate checking Sai to see if he was alive or not. Naruto shook his head slightly as he said "Don't worry, he's still alive, I wouldn't want to cause anymore of a ruckus, than I already have. But I can guarantee you that he won't be doing any missions for awhile."

Once Hayate confirmed that Sai was indeed still alive he stood up and pointed his left hand at Naruto and said "Winner Uzumaki Naruto. (Cough, Cough)"

After Hayate made the announcement Naruto started to turn towards the balcony when a piece of Sai's ripped clothing moved slightly to reveal his 'Ne' tattoo.

'_Ne huh? So that Danzo guy has made another move against me? I better let Kaasan know about this.'_ thought Naruto as he finished his turn toward the balcony and looked directly at Sasuke just in time to see him winced in pain from trying to activate his sharingan. Naruto let a smile form on his face as he made his way back toward his team and once he passed Sasuke he said "You're wasting your time Sasuke-teme. I didn't use hand seals so it's going to be a lot harder for you to copy that move."

"Whatever dobe. Like I would want a weak jutsu like that anyway." snarled Sasuke as he turned his head away from Naruto. This caused Kakashi to shake his head ever so slightly in disappointment.

"Unbelievable." was all Naruto said as he shook his head and made his way over toward his team.

The moment Naruto rejoined his team Haku gave him a quick hug before she immediately pulled back and blushed slightly as she said "You were great Naruto-kun. But don't you think that you let it last a little too long, and that last jutsu, wasn't it a little overboard?"

Naruto blushed slightly from the hug he then got a foxy grin on his face and started to rub the back of his head before he said "You think so? But I've been dieing to try that one out for awhile now."

Just then Anko walked up behind Naruto and smacked him upside the head. Naruto got a confused look on his face as he rubbed his head and said "Hey!! What the hell was that for Anko-neechan?!"

Anko glared at Naruto and crossed her arms as she said "I didn't teach you that jutsu for a reason Gaki! So I don't want to see you use a modification of it either!"

"But I just wanted to…" was all Naruto said before he noticed the look in Anko's eyes so he let out a sigh and added "Fine, I give you my word that I won't use it unless I absolutely have to."

Before Anko could even say anything else Tsunade walked up to both of them and started to ruffle Naruto's hair as she said "Then it's settled, so lets just sit back and watch the remaining matches. Ok?"

"Stop it Kaasan! That's embarrassing." said Naruto as he removed Tsunade's hand from his head.

Naruto then got a serious look on his face as he said "Kaasan… he's a 'Ne'."

Tsunade's eyes widened slightly as she turned to look at Sai while a couple of medics put him on a stretcher and took him to the infirmary before she turned back towards Naruto and said "Are you sure?"

When Naruto just nodded his head Tsunade and Kushina looked at each other for a moment before Kushina whispered "I'll get someone to watch him, maybe we'll discover something."

Tsunade just nodded her head in agreement and discreetly summoned a slug as Kushina jotted down a message. She then handed it to the slug before she whispered "Give this to a person named Raven. She's in the infirmary as we speak."

The slug nodded its antennae and puff out of existence. Kushina and Tsunade then turned back toward the arena as though nothing happened and waited for the next two combatants to bee called.

Meanwhile Kakashi was lost in his own thoughts after he heard Naruto mention 'Ne'. _'What's going on? I thought Hokage-sama disbanded that organization a long time ago. And from the looks of things it appears that they're after Naruto. But why?'_

Kakashi's eye widened slightly as he thought _'Wait a minute, could they be the reason Kushina-san let us think she was dead? Just what the hell is going on here?!'_

But before he could ask any questions the scoreboard came to life and selected the next two combatants. Everyone looked on as the board displayed the next two combatants:

**Uchiha Sasuke vs. Akimichi Chouji**

Chouji dropped to his knees as he said "Oh man, I'll never be able to beat Sasuke. Maybe I should just give up right now."

"Now, now Chouji, you can't just give up. I'll tell you what, if you take part in this fight, I'll treat you to an all you can eat dinner at any restaurant of your choosing after the exam. Ok?" said Asuma as he knelt down next to Chouji.

Chouji shot to his feet and with flames in his eyes he shouted "Yeah! ALL YOU CAN EAT! ALL YOU CAN EAT!!"

Ino just put her head in her hand as she thought _'That was low Asuma-sensei, preying on his weakness like that.'_

As for Shikamaru he merely shrugged his shoulders and in a lazy tone said "So troublesome…"

When Naruto saw the names for the next two combatants he turned to Haku and said "Sasuke-teme's up next huh? Well Haku-Chan, I guess now we get to see how he fairs against another shinobi."

"Indeed Naruto-kun, now we get to see if he lives up to all his boasting, about being the best genin of Konoha." said Haku.

Sasuke however just got a smirk on his face as he started to make his way toward the arena, but was soon stopped as Kakashi put his hand on Sasuke's shoulder and said "I wouldn't use your Sharingan if I were you. Your body still hasn't fully recovered from the effects of the curse mark. Oh and by the way, don't use that curse mark, because if you do I'll stop the match and you'll be disqualified."

Sasuke looked at Kakashi in shock for a moment before his smirk returned as he said "You don't have to worry, with the opponent I'm fighting I won't need to go all out."

A few moments later both Sasuke and Chouji were in the arena waiting for Hayate to begin the match. Sasuke got a smirk on his face as he looked at Chouji and said "So fatso, are you ready to get your butt kicked."

Chouji flinched ever so slightly as he said "What did you just call me?"

"I really need to repeat myself? Huh, fatso?" said Sasuke as he let his smirk widened.

"I'M NOT FAT!! I'M JUST A LITTLE CHUBBY OOKKK!!" shouted Chouji as he shoved his fist into the air.

Up on the balcony Ino got a surprised look on her face as she said "I know Chouji doesn't stand a chance against Sasuke-kun, but Sasuke-kun didn't have to be so mean."

"Hah, you sound surprised. Don't tell me you didn't know that he was like this?" said Naruto as he looked over at team 10.

Ino just glared at Naruto while Shikamaru just shook his head in disbelief as he thought _'What a drag. Doesn't this guy know that Ino goes postal anytime someone insults Sasuke?' _But before Ino could say anything they heard Hayate shout "BEGIN!!"

The moment the match began Chouji started to channel his chakra as he shouted "Baika no Jutsu!!" (Multi-Size Technique)

Immediately following this jutsu Chouji pulled in his arms and legs before he pulled his head in to make a perfect ball. He then rolled toward Sasuke at a high speed.

Sasuke was a little surprised by this attack but easily got out of the way as Chouji slammed into the arena wall, which caused him to revert back into his normal state with swirls in his eyes.

A smile appeared on Sasuke's face as he said "Well fatso, it looks like I'm not really need here, you're more than capable of taking yourself out."

Chouji shook his head to clear the cobwebs and then recklessly charged Sasuke as he said "I TOLD YOU I'M NOT FAT!! And I'll show you just how capable I am!"

"Perfect." said Sasuke as he suddenly vanished and then delivered a powerful kick to Chouji's chin, which sent him flying into the air.

Sasuke then appeared underneath Chouji, and delivered another kick to Chouji's arm before he twisted the other direction, and hit him with a back fist to his chest which sent him back toward the ground. Then just before Chouji hit the ground Sasuke delivered a spinning heel kick to Chouji's midsection before he said "Shishi Renden!!" (Lions Barrage)

"Naruto-kun isn't that…?" asked Haku as she looked over at Naruto.

"Yep, but just let it go Haku-Chan…, just let it go. It's not like he'll admit to it anyway." said Naruto as he shook his head and let out an aggravated sigh.

As Hayate went to check on Chouji, Sasuke pointed at Naruto and said "Your next."

"In your dreams Sasuke-teme. I can't wait for the chance to take you down a few pegs." replied Naruto as he glared at Sasuke and crossed his arms in front of his chest.

Moments later Hayate declared Sasuke the winner which caused Sasuke to get a cocky smile on his face as he made his way back toward the balcony.

Sasuke then returned to the remainder of his team while Naruto looked over at Haku and said "He was kind of slow there, don't you think Haku-Chan?"

"Indeed Naruto-kun, I was able to follow his movements quite easily. He hasn't improved as much as he said he did." said Haku as she nodded her head in agreement.

When Ino heard them talking she immediately interrupted with "HEY! Give him some credit! I mean he was fighting Sasuke-kun after all."

"Huh? Oh, I wasn't talking about Chouji, I was referring to Sasuke-teme." said Naruto as he shook his head and calmly looked over at Ino.

Ino just stood there for a moment in shock at the realization that Naruto had just told her that he thought Sasuke's movements were slow. Once she recovered from this she glared at Naruto and said "What do you mean Sasuke-kun's movements were slow! Didn't you see how fast Sasuke-kun finished his match?"

"I saw, and I could still follow all of his movements, so I don't see what the problem is." said Naruto as he shrugged his shoulders.

"Why you!!" shouted Ino as she glared at Naruto, but before she could take it even further the scoreboard choose the next two combatants.

**Tsunami vs. Ten-Ten**

Both combatants entered the arena and as they waited for Hayate to start the match Ten-Ten got into her fighting stance as she said "I plan on showing everyone just what a Kunoichi can do."

Tsunami got a smile on her face as she said "Funny, I was going to say the same thing."

The moment Hayate started the match Ten-Ten did a back flip to get some distance, while at the same time she threw a couple of kunai at Tsunami to keep her occupied. After Tsunami used her staff to deflect the kunai, she looked at Ten-Ten and thought _'Not bad, she managed to get some distance while at the same time she kept me occupied with her Kunai. Looks like she'll be a challenge.'_

"That's the way Ten-Ten, use the power of youth!!" shouted Lee as he pumped his fists into the air to cheer Ten-Ten on.

Gai shoved his own fist into the air as he shouted "That's the spirit Lee! Keep cheering her on!!"

Naruto shook his head at the antics of Lee and Gai when he suddenly heard NiYal say "This should be a good fight, I just wonder if Tsunami will use it during this fight?"

Naruto looked over in NiYal's direction and saw Anika standing right next to NiYal when she said "I don't know but I sure hope she will she just finished learning it. So she might use that jutsu in this match."

'_Jutsu she just learned? I wonder what they could be talking about?'_ thought Naruto as he turned his attention back toward the fight.

Tsunami used her staff to block a couple of Kunai that Ten-Ten threw her way. As she knocked the last kunai she spun around as she pulled out a couple of shuriken and threw them at Ten-Ten.

The moment Ten-Ten saw Tsunami spin she pulled out a scroll opened it and bit he thumb before she smeared some of her blood on one of the seals. This allowed her to summon her own three handled nunchaku (AN: Not really sure what this weapon is called). Ten-Ten then locked the handles into place to form her own staff and blocked the shuriken.

The two of them then charged each other and attacked with their staffs. Tsunami swung her staff up high in an attempt to nail Ten-Ten in the head, but Ten-Ten ducked and countered by using her staff to sweep at Tsunami's legs.

Tsunami did a quick jump to avoid the sweep and then did a spin kick aimed at Ten-Ten's head, who used her staff to block it.

As they separated both of them threw kunai at each other. When the kunai collided in midair Tsunami took this opportunity to bite her thumb as she pulled out a scroll. She then smeared her blood on the scroll which summoned a barrel of water out of storage.

Naruto got a curious look on his face when he saw the barrel and thought _'Could this be part of the jutsu that NiYal was talking about earlier?'_

"I think it's time we finish this." said Tsunami as she went through a series of hand seals, and once she finished she shouted "Suiton: Kyousei Howaido Gyorai!" (Water Style: Great White Torpedo)

Ten-Ten's eyes widened in shock as the water from the barrel came out and shot at her like a torpedo. As it traveled through the air the front of the water morphed into the head of a Great White Shark.

'_I guess I'll have to do this on the move.'_ thought Ten-Ten as the attack got closer the Shark's head suddenly opened it's mouth in a menacing fashion. Ten-Ten jump into the air at the last second, avoiding the attack, and pulled out two scrolls of her own before she did the necessary hand seals and opened them. Once the scrolls started to spin around her she said "Soushouryuu!" (Twin Rising Dragons)

She then used the scrolls to launch a barrage of weapons at Tsunami. As Tsunami started to dodge some of the weapons she focused her chakra and had her attack turn around and once more head for Ten-Ten. The moment she changed the direction of her attack a kunai imbedded itself into her leg forcing her to the ground. Once on the ground several more kunai imbedded themselves into her arms and legs deep enough so that she was pinned to the ground.

Ten-Ten got a smile on her face when she saw this and said "Looks like I win." Just then however Tsunami's attack made a direct hit to Ten-Ten's back and then proceeded to slam Ten-Ten into the hard ground.

When Ten-Ten didn't move, Hayate made his way over to check on her. Once he found her unconscious he said "(Cough, cough) Since one competitor is pinned to the ground and unable to move, and the other one is unconscious. (Cough, cough) Neither one is able to continue, so this match is ruled a draw and neither combatant will advance to the final exam."

When Akira heard this announcement she turned to face Tsunade and said "Tsunade-sama, I know this is asking a lot, but do you think you heal Tsunami's injuries."

Tsunade got a small smile on her face as she pointed at Tsunami and said "It doesn't look like I'll be needed."

Akira got a curious look on her face but when she looked down into the arena, she let a smile appear on her face. For both Naruto and Haku were at Tsunami's side removing the kunai and treating her wounds, with NiYal and Anika close by, while Shizune checked on Ten-Ten.

Once Naruto finished the treatment he said "That was an interesting jutsu you used back there. Did you come up with it yourself?"

Tsunami lowered her head slightly as she said "Hai I did come up with it myself but it hasn't been completed yet Naruto-sama."

"I'm impressed, not many genin could create their own jutsu's like that. Don't you think so Haku-Chan?" said Naruto as he got a smile on his face and looked over at Haku.

Haku got a smile on her face and nodded her head in agreement as she said "Indeed Naruto-kun, not many genin would be able to create their own jutsu's like that."

Tsunami blushed slightly from the complement as her teammates helped her to her feet. Once everyone was off of the arena floor Hayate motioned for the next two combatants to be chosen. The scoreboard once again came to life and did its job:

**Haruno Sakura vs. Haku**

Sakura's eyes widened in shock and she got a nervous look on her face before she looked over at Haku and thought _'I have to fight her! But she's the one that beat Sasuke-kun in Wave! How am I going to be able to beat her?!'_

Haku however got a look of displeasure on her face as she shouted "No not Sakura! Give me Lee, Neji, I'll even take any of the Suna shinobi, just give me someone with more skill than her!"

Naruto put his arm around Haku so that his right hand was on her right shoulder and said "Come on Haku-Chan it's not that bad, just try and look at the bright side to this match."

"Oh? And what's the bright side Naruto-kun?" said Haku as she blushed slightly from the close contact.

"Well aside from the fact that you're guaranteed a spot in the finals. Think of this as an opportunity to teach Sakura, what it really means to be a shinobi." said Naruto as he gave Haku a one armed hug.

After she thought about it for a moment, a smile appeared on Haku's face as she said "You're right Naruto-kun I think I'll do that, but I plan on teaching her more than that. Who knows? Maybe I'll teach her some humility as well."

When Naruto saw the glint in Haku's eye he felt a shiver run down his spin as he started to get a little concerned and thought _'Oh-uh, I remember the last time she got that glint in her eye, and it wasn't pretty.'_

"**Ha, Ha, Ha! I remember that kit! And the look on your face as she senboned your ass with that Hyouton: Makyou Hyoushou** (Ice Style: Demonic Ice Crystal Mirrors)** of hers was just priceless!"** said Kyuubi as she continued to snicker at the memory.

'_Give me a break Baa-Chan! How was I supposed to know that Haku-Chan was taking a bath, when I wanted to try out my new Suiton Jutsu! What I still don't get is that even after I apologized to her the moment I knew she was there, she still nailed me with that jutsu of hers.'_

Kyuubi just let out a sigh before she said **"Kit you saw her when she was trying to take a bath, of coarse she was going hit you with something, but what I want to know is… why didn't you dodge any of her strikes? I know you could have."**

Naruto choked for a moment before he thought _'ARE YOU MAD BAA-CHAN!! I learned a long time ago that there are certain times when a woman is piss at you; YOU DON'T DO ANYTHING ELSE TO PISS THEM OFF EVEN MORE! If I had dodged her strike, who knows what she would have done then.'_

While Kyuubi snickered at his outburst, Naruto noticed that Haku had a concerned look on her face just before she said "Are you all right Naruto-kun?"

"Yeah I'm fine; I was just reminded of an awkward moment that's all. But more importantly, make sure you have fun in your match all right?" said Naruto as he quickly tried to change the subject.

"Don't worry Naruto-kun, I'm sure to come up with a few ways to entertain myself." said Haku as she used Shunshin no jutsu to move to the arena floor.

Once both combatants entered the arena, Hayate said "(Cough, cough) The fourth match of the preliminaries… Sakura vs. Haku. BEGIN!!"

Haku got into her fighting stance as she said "Well, are you ready for your lesson to begin Sakura?"

"You don't scare me! I've gotten a lot stronger since we last fought in Wave." said Sakura as she put up a brave front so no one could see how worried she was.

Haku got a smile on her face as she said "We'll see Sakura… we'll see."

Next Chapter: Haku's Lesson! The True meaning of a Shinobi!

--

Author's note2: Well I hope you liked the fights in this chapter, and I'll give you a heads up for the fights I'm planning on for the next one: Haku vs. Sakura (Obviously), Temari vs. Ino (I've got an idea to make this interesting, I hope), and NiYal vs. Kiba.

Now as for the poll 'Kin's Fate' here are the results so far:

1. Kin lives and eventually joins Kumori. (86)

2. Kin lives and is let go. (10)

3. Kin dies. (8)

Wow option 1's lead has gotten even bigger but it's still not over, but if she does live and join Kumori she will play a roll when Oto becomes involved later in the story. Well I hope to see you all next time.


	22. Chapter 22: Haku lesson!

-1

"Speech"

'_Thoughts'_

**Demon/Summon/inner Sakura speech**

_**Demon/Summon thoughts**_

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or any of the characters created by Kishimoto, but all OC's are my own creation.

Narutomaniac: While I agree with you on Chouji being physically stronger than Sasuke, I don't think he has the speed and agility Sasuke does, but that's just me. Anyway I do have plans for the Ino-Shika-Cho trio later in the story so he'll get his time to shine then. (Each of the team members will learn something from this exam. Ex: Chouji will start to train harder and learn to focus and channel his anger better than he did with Sasuke.)

BrownPaperBag51: Sorry about that and the answer is yes he will learn Hiraishin no Jutsu but it will happen a little later in the story. Now as for Jiraiya's roll in Naruto's training I plan to have him advance Naruto's Fuuinjutsu skills while they work on the seal he found in the Namikaze Vault.

Dragon Noir: Kakashi's guilt trip has only just begun, it was short yes but I intend to have Kushina confront him later about the whole thing and force Kakashi to deal with his shortcomings.

Authors note: Well I got a hold of my beta and due to certain circumstances he is unable to continue. So I'll be looking around for a beta reader and when I've found one I'll contact them and see if they want to do it. (I know a couple of people have offered but I haven't decided on whom to contact yet) Now I want to thank everyone that gave me info on the three section staff. I know some of your weren't to happy with how fast Chouji got beaten, but all I can say is that at this point in time Chouji doesn't really control his anger like in canon he just attacks recklessly without thinking and that's why he got beat so easily, however as I stated in an above post he will learn from this and become stronger later in the story.

Now on with the Story

--

Chapter 22: Haku's Lesson! The True meaning of a Shinobi!

As Haku and Sakura got into their fighting stances Naruto looked down at them before he let out a sigh and said "I know I told Haku-Chan to look at the bright side of this, but it really is a shame that she won't be able to show her real skills during this fight."

"You know Naruto, Sakura has done some extensive training since the wave mission. So I don't think she'll be as easy as you think." said a defensive Kakashi, for he didn't want anyone to think of his students as weak.

Naruto shook his head slightly as he turned his attention towards Kakashi and said "I think I should inform you, Haku-Chan is one of the strongest people in this exam. So it's nearly impossible for Sakura to win this match."

"A bit cocky, aren't we? So why don't you tell use just who is the strongest one here?" interrupted Sasuke as he moved closer to Naruto.

Naruto looked at Sasuke for a moment before a smile appeared on his face and he turned his attention back toward the arena floor and said "You already know the answer to that Sasuke-teme."

Sasuke became enraged at the fact that his question went unanswered. So as he moved to grab Naruto's shoulder while he said "Hey dobe! Answer my question! Who do you think is the strongest genin here?!"

Just before Sasuke's hand touched Naruto's shoulder, Naruto grabbed Sasuke's wrist and twisted it behind his back before he said "Will you keep it down, I don't want to miss the match."

While Sasuke tried to free his arm, Tsunade turned to glare at Kakashi as she said "You should keep a better handle on your students Kakashi, otherwise their going to bit off more than they can chew."

"I'm sorry Tsunade-sama, but it never would have happened if Naruto had just answered Sasuke's question. It would have been the polite thing to do." retorted Kakashi as he looked at the pair and just sighed.

"Oh really, I seem to remember that you never responded to Gai whenever he talks to you." interrupted Kushina as she placed her hands on her hips and glared at Kakashi.

"That's an entirely different matter Kushina-san."

Tsunade scoffed at this as she said "One rule for the masses and another for the elites. Is that what your telling us Kakashi?"

"Certainly not Tsunade-sama, I'm simply saying that the circumstances between the two are completely different." said a defensive Kakashi.

Just then Naruto turned to face them and brought his index finger up to his lips and said "SSSHHHH! Haku-Chan's finally going to make a move."

Naruto then released his grip on Sasuke and shoved him out of the way before he turned his attention back to the arena.

"Well Sakura? Am I going to have to wait all day for you to make a move?" asked Haku as she waited for Sakura to gather enough courage to attack her.

Sakura didn't say anything as she threw several kunai at Haku before she went through a series of hand seals and created two Bunshins; she then charged Haku as fast as her legs would carry her.

Haku just moved slightly to the left and then the right as she easily dodged the projectiles. She then saw the three Sakura's charging. She shook her head in disbelief and said "A basic academy tactic? Now that's just sad."

Haku then moved in and punched the real Sakura in the jaw, which knocked her to the ground. As Sakura skidded along the ground Haku said "Bunshin no Jutsu's only weakness is that it's just an illusion. It's great for distraction when used properly, however just charging in with two Bunshins is very foolish, your footsteps alone will give you away."

"Now… let's begin the first lesson. I'll teach you the proper application of that jutsu." said Haku as she quickly went through a series of hand seals and created a Mizu Bunshin.

'_So this girl is just like Nidiame-sama. She has the ability to create water out of the molecules in the air. __You certainly have a formidable team here Tsunade. I just wish these talented youngsters hadn't been driven away by the hatred of the villagers. Yet another of my failings.'_ thought Sarutobi as he got a sorrowful expression on his face and looked over at Tsunade and Naruto.

Meanwhile Naruto just whistled at Haku's display before he said "Man, Haku-Chan's chakra control has really improved. It hardly takes her any chakra now to create the water for those Mizu Bunshins."

"Indeed she has brat, she trains as hard as she can so that she can catch up to you. Apparently she wants to make sure that she'll always be of use to you." said Zabuza as he moved next to Naruto to get a better view of the fight.

It was at this point that NiYal walked over and said "Excuse me Naruto-sama, but are Haku-san's abilities a Kekkei Genkai?"

Naruto shifted his gaze so that he looked NiYal square in the eyes as he said "First off, would you please stop calling me Naruto-sama, it just doesn't feel right. And secondly, yep it's a Kekkei Genkai, it allows her to create and control any form of water; be it liquid or ice."

"Wow, she must be really powerful then." said NiYal as he looked down at Haku.

Naruto just got a smile on his face as he thought _'Oh, you have no idea.'_

Down in the arena Haku stood behind her clone as it raised its right arm. Once the bunshin's arm was pointed in Sakura's direction it suddenly shifted back into its water color before Haku said "Hyouton: Koori Pi-Su" (Ice style: Ice Pieces 'or shards').

As several ice shards shot out from the bunshin's arm, Sakura rolled out of their flight path, but not before she got nicked by a few of them. The moment Sakura came out of her roll she threw several shuriken and said "I thought you were going to teach me how to use Bunshin no Jutsu, not Mizu Bunshin no Jutsu!"

Haku didn't reply, she just let a smile cross her face as she just stood still and didn't try to move at all. Her smile got even bigger as the shuriken pasted straight through her like she wasn't even there.

"What?! When did she…?" said Sakura as her eyes widened when she felt the cold metal of a kunai press up against her neck.

Haku tightened her grip on the kunai and increased the pressure on Sakura's neck as she said "Now that's how you use a Bunshin."

Kankurou's eyes widened slightly as he said "That… was impressive, I didn't even see her create that Bunshin let alone get behind her opponent. We'll have to be careful around this one, as well as her teammate, if they've allied themselves with Konoha, we could be in big trouble."

"I know what you mean Kankurou, I now see why their team was able to complete the second part of the exam so fast." said Temari as she got a worried look on her face. Meanwhile Gaara remained silent and just stared at Haku before he obverted his gaze over towards Naruto.

Naruto had a smile on his face as he watched the match but then he felt a sudden chill, as if he was being watched. He turned his head in the direction of this feeling and saw Gaara blankly staring at him. Naruto returned the stare for a moment before he thought _'What is it about that guy, that gives me such an uneasy feeling? I wonder if it's because we share the same look in our eyes. Eyes that have experienced great pain and loneliness. What do you think Baa-Chan?'_

"**I'm not too sure kit, but if I'd have to guess, I'd say he's just like you."**

'_Wait you can't mean…'_ thought Naruto as his eyes widened slightly in surprise.

Kyuubi nodded her head behind her cage as she said **"That's right kit, I think he's a Jinchuuriki. So I recommend caution until I confirm which one he carries."**

'_If he is like me, than I have to get him to see that there's more to life than just pain and loneliness. He has to learn that there are people out there who don't care if you bear a Bijuu or not.'_ thought Naruto before he returned his gaze to the fight below.

Back on the arena floor Haku once again increased the pressure of her kunai on Sakura's neck to the point that a small trickle of blood could be seen. Once Haku saw the blood she got a serious look on her face as she said "If this had been a mission, you'd be dead right now."

Haku then quickly removed the kunai from Sakura's neck while at the same time she delivered a quick side kick to Sakura's back, which sent her skidding across the floor. Haku then got into her fighting stance and said "Now let us begin lesson two."

(Infirmary)

Raven started to get a little annoyed, after she got the message from Kushina she has kept a hidden visual over Sai for the past half hour, and nothing has happened. She let out a silent sigh as she thought _'This is why I hate reconnaissance, form the sound of the note I expected something to happen right off the bat, but I guess this is what I get for being optimistic.'_

The moment Raven finished her mental rant; two cloaked ANBU entered the room. As Raven triple checked to make sure that they wouldn't detect her one of them approached Sai and after he scanned the room he injected a drug that would awaken Sai into his blood stream and said "It saddens me to see that you failed your mission."

Sai slowly opened his eyes and looked at the man as he said "I'm sorry senpai, I give no excuse for my failure. All I will say is that he is much stronger than I was lead to believe."

"I see this is most troubling." said the lead ANBU as he brought his hand up to his chin in a thinking position before he continued "If the boy is truly stronger than we thought, than the masters plans could be in jeopardy."

Sai got a curios look on his face as he said "What do you mean senpai? Surely one person couldn't disrupt the masters plans so easily."

The Lead ANBU turned slightly to the left as he said "You have no idea who that boy really is, if the entire village found out the truth, than it could completely destroy the balance of power we've setup. The last thing we need right now is a power struggle between the shinobi and civilian groups, that could lead to civil war. You know better than anyone that we don't have the numbers to win at such an occurrence. So no matter what happens after the Chunin Exams, we MUST make sure he doesn't stay in the village. Is that understood?"

"Hai senpai, I won't fail you again." said Sai as he bowed his head in an apologetic gesture before he winces slightly from the pain it caused.

When the lead ANBU saw this he simply said "You just rest up and get better Sai, because of your success in the forest there won't be a punishment this time. But if you fail again you know what will happen. Now the drug we gave you should wear off soon, so we'll leave you to rest. We have other business to attend to."

As Sai nodded his head in agreement he could already feel himself getting drowsy. Once he closed his eyes the two cloaked ANBU vanished in a whirl of leaves.

After the room was once again quiet Raven came out of hiding and looked at the sleeping Sai as she thought _'So their afraid of Naruto-sama's lineage, but why? Most of the people in this village already hate him, and I doubt if they learn the truth about his parents that it would make that much of a difference. Would it? Whatever the case may be, I'd better find out what their other business is before I report this to Kushina-sama.'_

(Back in the Arena)

"L-Lesson two?" asked a concerned Sakura as she slowly got to her feet.

As Haku went through a series of hand seals a smile appeared on her face and she said "That's right lesson two: Stealth. Let's see how well you do with this one. Kirigakure no Jutsu!" (Hidden Mist Technique)

Naruto let a smile cross his face when he saw the mist completely cover the arena. As he continued to stare into the mist he said "I see Haku-Chan, so that's what you have planned. I almost fell sorry for Sakura… almost."

"Naruto-sama? What does Haku-san have planned?" asked Tsunami as she looked over at Naruto and waited for an answer.

Naruto absently rubbed his shoulder as he let out a sigh and said "You guy's aren't going to stop calling me that are you? Anyway I'd like to tell you but then that would spoil the surprise. Don't worry you'll see what I mean soon enough."

Meanwhile Sakura was frantically searching for Haku in the mist when she suddenly heard "You won't be able to find me with your eyes Sakura, the mist is to thick."

A few seconds after Haku finished speaking, Sakura screamed in pain as several ice shards pelted her flesh. She then collapsed to her knees and gasped for air before she said "Why don't you come out and face me, instead of using cheap tricks to hide yourself!"

"Sakura, Sakura, Sakura, have you forgotten what lesson two was about? This lesson is about one of the most important aspects of the shinobi; STEALTH. Without stealth you won't live very long. Now let us continue the lesson." said Haku as she used her chakra to make more ice shards.

The moment Sakura made it to her feet she found herself once again being pelted with ice shards. After several more shards penetrated her body, Sakura fell to her hands and knees and once again felt the cold metal of a kunai pressed against her neck.

As the mist lifted it revealed Haku standing over Sakura with her kunai pressed against Sakura's neck before she said "This is the second time I could've killed you. If this happens one more time, I'm ending this match. Got it?"

Sakura slowly nodded her head the fear evident in her eyes. Haku then removed the kunai and kicked Sakura away from her. As Sakura rolled to a stop, Haku did another series of hand seals as she said "Now let's begin the final lesson. This lesson will be on Ninjutsu, so let's see how you handle this. Hyouton: Makyou Hyoushou!" (Ice Style: Demonic Ice Crystal Mirrors)

Sakura looked on in fear as she was surrounded by a dome of ice mirrors. Once the mirrors were completed Haku stepped into the mirrors and her image appeared on all the mirrors before she said "Are you ready to begin your final lesson Sakura? Since you mocked this jutsu before, why don't you show us how cheap it is and break free from my assault."

Sakura got to her feet and looked at all the mirrors before she thought _'I-I can't win this, she just too strong…_(she then shook her heard head and brought what little courage she had left to the surface) _NO! I can't give up now. What would Sasuke-kun think of me then?'_

"I-I'm ready, I can't back down now. I am a shinobi after all, and I'll show you how cheap this jutsu is. I'll use every tool at my disposal to get out of this." said Sakura as she tried to make herself look good in front of Sasuke.

"You will by using your tools huh? Well Sakura shinobi are just mere tools themselves, aren't they? At least… that's what I use to believe until I met Naruto-kun. He showed me his path of the shinobi…, and I've got to admit I like his idea better." said Haku as she pulled out some senbon and prepared to attack.

Sakura looked from mirror to mirror in an effort to try and figure out where Haku would attack from when Haku's words suddenly registered and she said "Oh yeah? Just what does that dobe believe a shinobi is?"

Haku narrowed her eyes at this comment and imbedded several senbon into Sakura's arms and legs before she said "Don't call Naruto-kun that again, or you will regret it. And to answer your question, Naruto-kun doesn't believe a shinobi should be an emotionless tool who only carries out his orders above all other things. But rather he follows his emotions and does what he feels is right, that's why Zabuza-sama and myself are alive right now. Any other shinobi would have killed us in Wave in order to protect Tazuna, but Naruto-kun refused to do that and look how things turned out. Now enough of this banter. I think it's time we finish this."

Before Sakura could even react Haku launched her attack. In the blink of an eye Sakura's body was almost completely covered in Senbon. When the pain finally registered Sakura let out a scream before she collapsed to the ground. Naruto involuntarily shivered as he thought _'Man, Haku-Chan sure can be scary sometimes. But she is really trying to get her point across isn't she?'_

"**Indeed she is, now I see why I like her so much. You better not let her slip through your fingers kit, or I'm going to be on your ass."** said Kyuubi as a smile appeared on her face from Haku's earlier display.

Naruto didn't say a word he simply shook his head and let out a sigh as he turned his attention back to the arena.

Once Sakura was on the ground Haku canceled her jutsu and walked up to her. Sakura managed to turn her head and cough up a little blood as Haku made her way over to the beaten girl. Once there Haku shook her head and let out a sigh as she said "Don't worry Sakura you'll survive, I didn't hit any of your vital areas, all you have are flesh wounds. But consider this a warning Sakura. Had this been a real mission you would have died. So I recommend you take this a little more seriously, otherwise the next opponent you face will be your last."

Hayate went over and checked the condition of Sakura and once he finished he said "(Cough, cough) Due to Sakura's inability to continue, (Cough cough) I declare Haku the winner."

Once Haku reach Naruto and the others Naruto put his hands on his hips as a smile appeared on his face and he said "And you said my jutsu as a little overboard."

Haku blushed slightly and got a sheepish look on her face as she said "Well you did tell me to teach her a lesson, and after this match I don't think she'll take her training lightly, do you?"

Naruto couldn't help but chuckle before he said "You got that right Haku-Chan, and if this doesn't straighten her out than I don't know what will!"

Just then Kakashi walked over and looked at Haku with a stern look before he said "Don't you think that was a little harsh?"

Before Haku could even answer Tsunade appeared behind her and said "That's not your call to make Kakashi, don't forget that this is a full contact tournament. If it was too much for her, she could have just given up at any time."

"Sakura has a fighting spirit Tsunade-sama; she wouldn't just give up like that. Besides she has a lot of potential, and could become a fine shinobi one day."

Naruto just scoffed at this before he said "Yeah, the only way that will happen is if she gets out of this fan girl stage she's in."

Kakashi turned his attention over to Naruto as he said "Naruto you may be my sensei's son, but I won't tolerate you questioning my judgment."

As Naruto was about to answer Kushina grabbed a hold of Kakashi's shoulder and turned him around and in a stern voice said "She's a fan girl Kakashi?"

When Kakashi saw the look in Kushina's eyes he merely nodded his head. Kushina let out an aggravated sigh and said "Now I'm really disappointed in you Kakashi. At least Minato-kun had the sense to get that out of Rin's system before he took any of you on a serious mission, let alone take the Chunin Exam!"

Just then Sasuke made his opinion known as he scoffed at Kushina's comments and said "Heh, I don't know what you all are getting upset about. She was a weak shinobi and got what she deserved. Now if that had been me down there it would have ended very differently."

"Yeah right Sasuke-teme, the only difference would have been that Haku-Chan wouldn't have been so gentle with you." said Naruto as he glared at Sasuke.

Sasuke glared right back as he said "In your dreams dobe, my Sharingan has gone to the next level, you couldn't possibly understand the power I possess now."

Haku narrowed her eyes at Sasuke and said "You mean the power to copy other people's hard work?"

Sasuke glared at Haku as he said "I possess one of the strongest Doujutsu this village has ever seen, I wouldn't expect a simpleton like you to understand."

Naruto got a serious look on his face as he said "I'll tell you as I told your council, it takes more than a Doujutsu to make a good shinobi."

Sasuke gritted his teeth in anger and was about to retort back when Kakashi suddenly put his hand on Sasuke's shoulder and said "That's enough Sasuke, the next match has just been decided."

Everyone turned their attention to the scoreboard as it read:

**Temari vs. Yamanaka Ino**

Naruto got a slight smile on his face as he said "One of the Suna shinobi huh? Good I've been wondering what they were capable of."

As both competitors made their way to the arena floor Shikamaru let out a sigh and said "Oh man, Ino is more of a short ranged fighter, while it looks like that Suna lady is a long range type. I just hope Ino has a plan for this type of scenario."

As both combatants faced each other Temari pulled out her fan and slammed the tip of it on the ground as she said "Let's get this over with little girl, I want to see the remaining matches."

"It won't be as easy as you think, I was the top Konouchi in my class." said Ino as she got into her fighting stance.

"Ha, Ha, Ha! You were the top of your class? If that's the case I think they need to reevaluate their teaching methods." said Temari as she started to chuckle at the thought.

Hayate looked at both of them before he lowered his hand and shouted "BEGIN!!"

Ino immediately threw several kunai at Temari and then moved to get behind her. Temari got a smirk on her face and tightened her grip on her fan as she said "Too slow."

The next thing Ino knew her kunai were reflected back at her while a huge gust of wind knocked her on her butt. As the kunai nicked her shoulders Ino got a surprised look on her face and said "What the hell?"

Meanwhile Naruto got a half smile on his face before to turned to look at Haku and said "I never thought we'd run into another person who could manipulate the wind in this exam. I wonder just how good she is."

"You're starting to enjoy this aren't you Naruto-kun?" asked Haku as she glanced over at Naruto.

Naruto nodded his head in agreement and then turned his attention back to the arena as he said "Yeah I am this exam has finally started to get interesting. You can't tell me it hasn't peaked your interest now."

"You got me there Naruto-kun, this exam has finally caught my interest, but I don't think I'm getting the same enjoyment out of this that you are. I mean you found SOMEONE who's able to manipulate the wind after all." said Haku with a hint of jealously in her voice.

Naruto noticed the tone in Haku's voice so he turned to look her in the eyes as he said "Don't be like that Haku-Chan, you're making it sound like more than what it is."

Haku just looked into his eyes for a moment and then got a smile on her face and started to giggle as she said "I know that Naruto-kun, I was just teasing you."

"That was mean Haku-Chan." said a pouting Naruto as he crossed his arms and looked away.

Kushina started to chuckle at there interaction and thought _'They remind me of the way we use to be Minato-kun.'_ "Ok Haku-san, I think you've had enough fun for now, besides it looks like the match is about to resume."

Back in the arena Ino finally got back on her feet and thought _'Damn it, she was somehow able to reflect my kunai attack. Well I guess now I'll find out if I'm as good as Shikamaru when it come to planning strategies.'_

Ino was brought out of her thoughts when another burst of wind hit her and caused her to stumble back. After she regained her footing she looked over at Temari in time to hear her said "You know it's not a good thing for a shinobi to be caught daydreaming during a match. But I guess that's what I should expect from such a weak shinobi."

"SHUT UP! I'll show you whose a weak shinobi!" shouted Ino just before she rolled out of the way of another wind blast.

A smirk appeared on Temari's face as she said "You're agile I'll give you that, but it'll take more than agility to beat me."

Ino dodged some more of Temari's wind assaults and managed to maneuver herself so that Temari was forced to move to the position that Ino was originally in, unless she wanted to get hit by the power of her own jutsu. Once Temari was were Ino wanted her to be, Ino got a smile on her face and she activated the two explosive tags that she discreetly placed there when she was first knocked down.

As the tags exploded Ino's smile got even bigger as she looked at the dust cloud and said "See that's what you get for underestimating me."

Ino's moment was short lived however when she suddenly felt something hard hit her legs, which sent her crashing to the ground. Once Ino was on her knees Temari placed the tip of her fan under Ino's chin and said "Not bad little girl, it seems I've underestimated you. You nearly got me with that little tactic there, to bad you broadcasted your plan the moment you tried to maneuver me into that spot."

Temari then used her fan to force Ino to her feet before she removed it and quickly used it as a club and knocked Ino upside the head. As Ino fell to the ground she jerked both of her hands, which caused the trip wire she had placed behind her to move forward and knock Temari off her feet.

As Ino hit the ground Temari used the moment of her own fall to twirl around and land on her feet, but this action caused her to loose her grip on her battle fan.

As the fan hit the floor Ino got to her feet and let a smile cross her face as she said "Now that you lost your fan, you won't be able to use that Fuuton jutsu of yours."

Temari got a smile of her own as she said "You think so? Well have I got a surprise for you."

Temari then jerked her own wrist which caused the cord she had attached to her fan to tighten and allowed the fan to come flying back into her hands. Then before Ino could even react Temari shouted "Fuuton: Kamaitachi no Jutsu!" (Cutting Whirl wind technique)

As the wind hit Ino it wrapped itself around her and created a small whirlwind that lifted Ino high into the air. Once in the air the wind increased and started to cut into Ino's cloths and skin. Ino gritted her teeth before she screamed in pain as she received even more cuts from the wind. When the winds finally died down Ino fell straight down towards the waiting Temari.

A smirk appeared on Temari's face as positioned herself so that the tip of her battle fan made contact with the middle of Ino's back, thus braking her fall. As Ino groaned and coughed up a little blood from having Temari's battle fan jammed into the middle of her back, Temari said "See I told you that Konoha shinobi were weak. Now be a good little girl and sit the rest of this out."

Hayate looked at the scene in front of him and said "(Cough, cough) Winner Temari."

"That was dull, I guess that jutsu was a little much, it's a shame really, but I did owe you for singeing my skirt." said Temari as she let out a sigh and then used her battle fan to fling Ino across the arena towards the wall on the opposite side.

Just before Ino hit the wall however Lee jumped down and caught her. He then gently set her down and glared at Temari before he said "How could you do such a thing?! She was a worthy opponent who gave it her all, a person worthy of respect. So how could you treat her in such a manner?"

"Will you just shut-up and get yourself and that loser out of my way." said Temari as she got a little annoyed at Lee's question.

Lee narrowed is eyes at Temari and before anyone could blink Lee launched an attack. Lee's eyes widened in shock when Temari was able to maneuver her fan in time to block his kick before he said "What the?!"

Temari got a smirk on her face as she said "Hah! I see that you're not so fast after all!"

Before Lee could retort back Gai landed right next to him and said "Stop this at once Lee!"

"Gai-sensei…" said Lee as he got a disappointed look on his face. He then did as Gai requested and backed away from Temari.

Once Lee had backed down Gaara looked at Temari and said "Temari, you've already been declared the winner. So get back up here and stop wasting your time with such a weakling."

"What…" said Lee as he gritted his teeth and glared at Gaara.

But before Lee could say anything further Gai put his hand on Lee's shoulder and looked up at the Suna shinobi and said "My dear friends from Suna…, allow me to give you some advise. Be prepared, for you have no idea just how strong this boy really is."

After all the excitement was over Asuma went down and brought Ino back up to the balcony. Once he set her down he then turned to Tsunade and said "Tsunade-sama, do you think you could take a look at Ino and see if she has any internal injuries?"

Tsunade was about to refuse and tell him to have Konoha's medics take a look at her when Naruto suddenly said "Do it Kaasan. After all you did teach me that we can't turn our backs on anyone who's injured right?"

Tsunade let out a sigh before she nodded her head in agreement and then knelt down next to Ino and began her treatment. As she was healing Ino Tsunade said "Her injuries aren't too bad, manly just cuts and gashes. She does have some trauma to her spinal column, but it's nothing I can't fix."

Once Tsunade finished healing Ino she stood up and looked over at Asuma as she said "She'll be just fine now Asuma, I suspect that she'll regain consciousness soon. So just let her rest until then."

"Thank you Tsunade-sama." said Asuma as he bowed his head in gratitude.

Just then the next two opponents were chosen:

**Aner NiYal vs. Inuzuka Kiba**

As both competitors made there way down to the arena Anika turned to face Tsunami and said "I hope NiYal takes this seriously, because if he plays around too much he's going to lose."

"Yeah I know, let's hope that he does." said Tsunami as she nodded her head in agreement and looked down into the arena.

After both of the combatants entered the arena Hayate lowered his hand as he said "The sixth match of the preliminaries, NiYal against Kiba. BEGIN!!"

Kiba got a big smile on his face as he said "You might as well give up now. I've already seen your speed in the forest and I know I'm faster."

"You think so? We'll why don't you try me and find out." said NiYal as he got his own smile on his face in an attempt to piss off Kiba.

Kiba put his hands together and started to channel his chakra as he said "Fine but remember you asked for it! Shikyaku no Jutsu!!" (Four-legged Technique)

'_Damn he's faster than I thought.'_ thought NiYal as he tried to dodge Kiba's attack but got nicked in the ribs as Kiba swiped at him.

Tsunami let out a sigh and said "I see he's still up to his old tricks. Let's just hope that Kiba's attack has finally forced him to realize that he needs to stop playing around."

Anika remained silent but nodded her head in agreement before both of them turned their attention back to the arena.

As NiYal grabbed the area were he was hit, Kiba got a cocky smile on his face and said "See didn't I tell you that I was too fast for you! I don't know who trained you but they did a poor job when is came to your speed. They must be a fool to avoid training you in such a vital area."

NiYal narrowed his eyes at Kiba as he clinched his fists. He then pulled out his sword and got into a fighting as he said "You just said the wrong thing. No one insults Akira-sensei while I'm around."

Before Kiba could launch another attack NiYal charged in and slashed at Kiba's midsection. Kiba is unable to get out of the way in time and gets a gash across his chest as NiYal's sword chipped the floor tiling when the blade tip came in contact with the ground.

NiYal lifted his head up and with a serious expression on his face said "You're quite agile, but that won't save you here. I'll show you just how fast I really am."

When Kiba saw the look in NiYal's eyes he thought _'So he's not going to play around huh? That's fine with me, I'll just show him what Akamaru and I can really do.'_ "Akamaru!!"

As Akamaru jumped into the battle Kiba pull out a strange pill and popped it into his mouth before he tossed one at Akamaru. After Akamaru's fur turned red he jumped onto Kiba's back as Kiba said "Juujin Bunshin!" (Beast-man clone)

"Huh, from the look in his eyes I'd say he took some Hyorogan. This tournament is just full of surprises, I never thought I would actually get to see those pills in action." said Naruto as he observed the two Kiba's to see what the pills effects would be.

Haku got a curious look in her face as she turned to Naruto and said "Hyorogan? Aren't those pills supposed to double your normal chakra level?"

"That's just one of their aspects. According to Kaasan, you can go several days with out rest as well, but she refused to even let me try them on the grounds that I already had too much chakra to begin with. So this match will be a good opportunity for me to see the effects they have on Kiba's body." said Naruto as he turned to face Haku.

Haku shook her head slightly before she looked back at the two combatants and said "Well Naruto-kun, it looks like you'll get to see the effects soon, because it looks like he's about to attack."

Kiba got a wicked grin on his face as he said "COME ON LET'S GO AKAMARU!!"

As the two Kiba's charged, one of them pulled out some items from his pouch and threw them at NiYal's feet. NiYal brought his sword in front of him and got a half-smile on his face as he thought _'Smoke Bombs eh? Well he's going to be in for a surprise.'_

Once the smoke completely enveloped NiYal one of the Kiba's moved in for a strike to the mid-section, but was surprised to find NiYal's sword already there ready to block the attack. NiYal then moved his left hand up to the back of his blade and used the momentum of Kiba's own attack to send Kiba flying face first into the ground.

After Kiba got back on his feet he wiped some dirt from his face and said "How? How were you able to block my attack in all that smoke?"

"Fool, did you forget what village I'm from? In Kumori we're trained to use the shadows to our advantage, in other words we're trained to fight in the dark!" said NiYal as he brought his sword in front of him once again and charged Kiba.

As NiYal was about to strike the Kiba that didn't attack earlier came up behind NiYal and attack his exposed back. But at the last moment NiYal twisted his body into a roll so that the claws only nicked his back. Once NiYal came out of his roll he thought _'That was close, I better take one of them out soon. Otherwise they could overpower me.'_

Kiba noticed that NiYal was slow to get up so he looked over at Akamaru and said "Come on Akamaru now's our chance! Gatsuuga!!" (Fang over Fang)

"Shit!" was all NiYal said as he turned his head and saw both Kiba's twist their bodies so that they were spinning like tornados. NiYal brought his sword up in a defensive position and thought _'Damn, no time to dodge, I'll just have to defend and hope for the best.'_

Once the attack made contact with blade NiYal was shoved back a couple of inches before the force of the attack knocked him to the ground. As NiYal slide across the ground Kiba got a smile on his face and pointed at himself before he said "Hah! Didn't I tell you I was awesome! And to think you tried to block my attack with that puny blunt blade of yours!"

Up on the balcony Anika slapped her forehead before she said "Not good! Why did idiot have to go and do that?"

"I know, Kiba's in for it now." said Tsunami as she shook her head.

Naruto looked over at the two and said "What do you mean? Surely he won't get that pissed off from such a comment, will he?"

"Oh NiYal's not the one that will get pissed off… just watch and you'll see what I mean." said Anika as Naruto returned his attention to the fight below.

NiYal tightened his grip on his sword and kept his head lowered so that his hair covered his eyes and in a low tone of voice said "Take it back."

"What?" said Kiba as he got a curious look on his face.

"I said take it back, my sword isn't a puny blunt blade." said an eerily calm NiYal.

Kiba started to laugh and after a few moments said "You've got to be kidding me why would I take that back. If anything, you should melt it down and use it to make a better weapon."

Naruto's eyes suddenly widened in shock when he felt a huge chakra surge coming from the sword. He looked curiously at the sword as he thought _'What the hell?! Since when do swords have their own chakra signature?!'_

'**I don't know kit; I've never come across anything like this before. If I didn't know any better I'd say something was sealed into the sword, but that's not possible with the power I feel coming from the sword any kind of seal would have broken by now." **said Kyuubi as she stared at the scene before she thought **_'Could this be a merger of some kind? But who in their right mind would willingly merge themselves with a weapon used by humans? Could it be…?'_**

Naruto was brought out of his conversation with Kyuubi when he heard Haku ask "Naruto-kun, do you feel that?"

"Yeah, but I have no idea what's going on." said Naruto as he continued to stare at the scene before him.

As the chakra level continued to rise, NiYal's sword suddenly transformed. The hilt of the sword changed into the head of a red dragon with emerald rubies for eyes. The blade itself came out of the dragon's mouth and was white hot as though it had just come out of the forge.

"You know you really shouldn't have insulted 'Talon' like that. You see he's very prideful, and loathes disrespect." said NiYal as he got to his feet and raised his head to reveal that his eyes had changed and were now golden yellow in color.

Kiba got a scared look on his face and took several steps backwards before he said "W-What's going on? Are you trying to tell me that your swords of yours has a will of it's own?"

NiYal remained quiet as he got into an unusual stance, as he said "That's right, now let me show you the power of 'Talon'! Ryuuton: Ryuuiki Kisoku!!" (Dragon style: Dragon's Breath)

As NiYal did a downward slash with his sword; flames erupted from the blade and completely engulfed Kida and Akamaru. Soon the force of the fire knocked the pair against the arena wall with a loud thud.

Akira's smile soon turned to a look of worry when she noticed the look in NiYal's eyes and thought _'Not good, it looks like Talon is forcing his influence upon NiYal. Man, Kiba must have really pissed him off to cause him to go that far. If I don't do something soon NiYal will…'_ "NIYAL!! GET A HOLD OF YOURSELF!!"

When NiYal heard Akira's voice his eyes returned to their normal color and he blinked a couple of times before the look on his face changed from anger to shock. He then canceled the jutsu and collapsed to his knees as he thought _'Shit! I still can't control his power; if it had gone on any longer his power might have consumed me.'_

Hayate went over and checked on the status of Kiba, after a few moments of silence Hayate stood up and pointed at NiYal before he said "(Cough, cough) Winner Aner NiYal."

While the medics rushed over to attend to Kiba; Naruto looked curiously at NiYal as he thought _'I know Baa-Chan said she didn't think it could be a seal, but with that secondary Chakra source, could he be like me?'_

When Akira noticed the look on Naruto's face she said "I know what you're thinking Naruto-sama, and the answer to your question is both yes and no. Yes the sword does have a soul of it own and will only allow certain people to wield it. But the power is held within the sword and nowhere else."

"I see." said Naruto as he lowered his head and got lost in his own thoughts.

Meanwhile Tsunade stood next to Kushina and said "Did you know that, he held such power?"

"Yes NiYal has the potential to become a powerful shinobi, that's one of the reasons Akira took him under her wing. You see once the sword chose him many people stared to fear the power he now possessed and started to scorn him. When Akira found him he was all alone, so she decided to train him, but he still has much to learn. You saw it yourself, he defiantly has the ability to become a chunin, but he still needs to work on controlling the power of the sword." said Kushina as she watched NiYal come back up to the balcony.

"That's not an easy task he has. Believe me, Naru-Chan still has trouble in that area. Don't get me wrong he's come a long way, but he's far from mastering it. But enough about that, what I want to know is have you heard anything about that 'Ne' that Naru-Chan fought earlier?" said Tsunade as she turned her head to look at Kushina.

"No I haven't, but it would be wise for Danzou to wait until after the prelims to contact his pawn. So we'll just have to be patient and wait for Raven's report." said Kushina.

Meanwhile down on the arena floor Hinata made her way over to Kiba so she could check on his condition. When Hinata saw some of the burns on Kiba she pulled out a small container and said "Uh… Um… Th-This is a healing salve, f-for Kiba and Akamaru. I-It should help with the pain."

"Heh you've always been like that, haven't you? You know it's nice that you have all this concern for others, but you might want to save some of it for yourself." said Kiba as he groaned from the pain.

After a few moment of silence Kiba looked Hinata straight in the eye and said "Listen Hinata… There are only six of you left. So if you get paired with any of the Suna shinobi, I want you to withdraw immediately! And not just them! The same goes for Neji, if he's your opponent I want you to forfeit. He hates you with a passion, he'd tear you to pieces!"

Just then Hayate said "(Cough, cough) Well then… let's choose the next to combatants."

As the scoreboard came to life once again Hinata turned her head so that she could see who the next match would feature. When the board finally chose the two applicants Hinata's eyes widened in fear for the scoreboard read:

**Hyuuga Hinata vs. Hyuuga Neji**

Next Chapter: Hyuuga vs. Hyuuga! The battle of the Byakugan!

--

Author's note2: well here's chapter 22 I hope all of you liked it. Now for the next chapter I will have the Hyuuga fight, as well as Anika vs. Shikamaru, and Kankurou vs. Shino. So I hope to see everyone there, until next time.

Ps. Also the poll concerning Kin's fate is over and the winner is option 1 (Kin lives and joins Kumori). Now I'd just like to say it won't be a: they saved Kin and she decides to join them, there will be some story behind Kin's decision for joining Kumori.

But enough about that here is the poll results:

1: Kin lives and joins Kumori. (97)

2. Kin lives and is let go. (11)

3. Kin dies. (11)


	23. Chapter 23: Hyuuga vs Hyuuga!

-1

"Speech"

'_Thoughts'_

**Demon/Summon/inner Sakura speech**

_**Demon/Summon thoughts**_

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or any of the characters created by Kishimoto, but all OC's are my own creation.

The Chronic Masturbater: Don't worry Naruto will fight Sasuke during the finals and it won't be interrupted.

Shigyakuteki Hyousha: Thanks for the info. The website I'm using for my translations only gave me the one I used. So I really appreciate it.

XxEro-GakixX: I only plan on keeping this a Naruto/femHaku pairing.

spider of the leaf: I won't tell you that you're wrong.

TrenchcoatMan: I won't say much about Gaara right now except for this. Just like in cannon Gaara and Naruto will become friends after the Suna/Oto invasion. This friendship along with other factors will lead to a conflict later on.

Heparus: While it's true that Naruto knows some skills from every field, right now he's only an average Jounin in terms of skill. (This is his strength alone with no help from Kyuubi) He only seems stronger because he is fighting Genin. (I know he's fought some Ne before but he only managed to kill one of them by catching him off guard, and was on the defensive with the other two until help arrived.) So if I have him learn Rasengan Shuriken it will still have the same drawbacks which won't be corrected for some time. Now as for my reasons for Sakura's poor performance in the exams: I'm running of the idea that because Naruto was never there to basically comfort her ego by trying to get her attention and tell her she did a good job. She still acts like she did during the wave arc. (Where if she was faced with a vastly stronger opponent she was ready to give up and run back home). Also since Naruto wasn't there to ask her out all the time she became an even bigger Fan-girl than in cannon. But don't worry this experience will have an effect on her and she will start to turn over a new leaf. After Sasuke's defection Kakashi will take Sakura on as an apprentice in an effort to make-up for past mistakes. (Her skills will see a drastic change at this point)

Author's note: Sorry about the late update. I had a harder time than I thought writing theses fights (I rewrote Hinata's fight several times). I still don't have a beta reader but that will change very soon.

Now on with the Story

--

Chapter 23: Hyuuga vs. Hyuuga! Battle of the Byakugan!

Neji got a serious look on his face before he lowered his head slightly and said "I never dreamed we'd find ourselves in this situation Hinata-sama."

Hinata looked nervously at Neji before she lowered her eyes and said "N-Neji-niisan…"

Up in the balcony Naruto shook his head slightly and let out a sigh before he said "Of all the people for Hinata to fight. It just had to be Neji, didn't it?"

Haku looked over at Naruto and in a concerned tone said "Naruto-kun I know that there is tension between the main and branch families, but do you think Hinata-san can really bring herself to fight against her own cousin?"

"Honestly I don't know Haku-Chan. If it had been before Anko-neechan's training I'd say no way, but she desperately wants to prove herself; so she may surprise us all." said Naruto as he kept his attention on the arena.

Hayate brought his hand up to his mouth as he said "(Cough, cough) Alright let the next match BEGIN!"

Neji focused his gaze upon Hinata and said "Before we begin Hinata-sama… There's something I feel I should point out. Withdraw from the match; we both know that you're not cut out to be a shinobi."

Hinata's eyes widened in shock before she got a sad expression on her face and looked away so she could avoid Neji's gaze as he continued "Face it Hinata-sama you have a world class inferiority complex, and you have no self-confidence. You would much rather follow someone else's lead than be a leader yourself. You're a peacemaker Hinata-sama… So I know you'd be more comfortable and content staying a Genin. But your teammates want to advance in rank, and you normally need to be a team of three to participate. You just couldn't bear to let your teammates down could you? That's the truth; you've been a reluctant participant up till now. Haven't you?"

"Y-You're wrong… I-I really wanted to change that about myself. S-So that's why I decided…" said Hinata as she lowered he head and started to poke her index fingers together.

Neji narrowed his eyes slightly as he interrupted "Don't try and fool yourself Hinata-sama! You're the sheltered little baby of the main branch aren't you? As the old saying goes 'A leopard doesn't change its spots.' It's the same for us; fate decides who is weak and who is strong. A weak personality like yours will never become strong no matter how much you try, a failure will always fail."

During this exchange of words Naruto tightened his grip on the railing as he muttered "Bastard…"

Neji could see the fear and doubt in Hinata's eyes so he decided to continue "That's why we coined terms like 'Elite' and 'Failure' after all. Just like I'm a member of the branch family and you're a member of the main family. I know the courage you're displaying right now is just a bluff, in the deepest part of your soul you're desperate to run away from this fight."

"N-No… you're wrong… I-I really have changed." said Hinata as she fought desperately to keep the courage she had right now.

"Let me prove it to you… BYAKUGAN!" said Neji as he activated his Doujutsu and stared directly into Hinata's eyes.

The moment Hinata saw Neji's Byakugan she averted her eyes, lowered her head slightly before she brought her right index finger up to her mouth and started to chew on it.

When Naruto saw Hinata's reaction he looked over at Neji and gritted his teeth while he tightened his grip so much that you could hear the sound of bending metal as he started to growl.

"You just proved my point Hinata-sama. Just now you avoided my stare by averting your eyes… and not only that, but you brought your arms up in an attempt to shield yourself. In addition… the way you're chewing on your finger tells me, that your instincts are telling you that I'm right on target! It's completely clear whether you admit it or not… you will never be able to change yourself!!" said Neji as he increased his chakra flow to his eyes so that his Byakugan would become more pronounced.

Unable to hold his rage in anymore Naruto finally shouted "YES, SHE CAN!!"

Naruto's outburst shocked almost everyone there and before anyone could react he added "JUST WHO THE HELL DO YOU THINK YOU ARE?! No one has the right to decide what other people are capable of!! Go on Hinata, prove this bastard wrong! Show him the results of your training by KICKING HIS ASS!!"

Neji turned his gaze towards Naruto and thought _'What an annoying fellow. He isn't even from this village, so why does he care so much?' _

Hinata's eyes widened in shock as she just stared at Naruto for a moment before she said "Naruto-kun…"

She then closed her eyes for a moment and gathered her courage. When Hinata reopened them, everyone could see a look in her eyes that was never there before, as she thought _'… Thank-you.'_

Neji looked on in shock while he thought _'The look in her eyes is different now…'_ "You aren't going to withdraw are you?"

When Hinata merely nodded her head and got into her fighting stance, Neji got into his own as he said "Very well… then I won't be held responsible for what happens."

"Neji-niisan… I won't run away anymore. Let's do this." said Hinata as she activated her Byakugan. and looked at all the moisture that was left over from the previous match before she closed her eyes and started to concentrate. _'Good there's enough moisture to pull this off. I must focus my chakra. Focus…, focus…, focus, focus, FOCUS.'_

Neji got a curious look on his face when he saw Hinata's reaction. He eyes then widened in shock when he saw the water on the ground starting to churn. Just then a small sliver of this water shot up from the ground and went straight for Neji's face. Neji tilted his head slightly in order to avoid it, but the water nicked his face with such force that it actually broke the skin, and as a small trickle of blood ran down his cheek he thought _'No way! When did Hinata-sama learn to do that?'_

Naruto looked on in awe for a moment before he turned to Haku and said "Haku-Chan, did you teach her to do that?"

Haku got a smile on her face as she gave Naruto a quick nod before she said "Yep! Back in Wave I noticed that she had an affinity with water. So I gave her some instructions and worked with her on developing this skill. She really has come a long way since then, I can't wait to see what else she can do."

Back in the arena Neji wiped the blood from his cheek and gave Hinata a harsh stare before he said "You surprised me there Hinata-sama. But it won't happen again, I think it's time I remind you of the destiny fate has given you."

As Neji charged in Hinata focused her chakra even further and caused all the remaining water to head towards Neji, at a deadly speed. Neji halted his charge and a got a smirk on his face as he said "Humph, you won't get me with the same trick twice!"

Neji suddenly started to spin at a high rate of speed while he emitted a large amount of chakra at the same time. As the water harmlessly bounced of the swirling chakra that surrounded Neji; Hinata's eyes widened in shock as she said "T-That's Hakkeshou Kaiten!" (Eight Divination Palms of the Hand, Heavenly Spin)

"What the hell?! I thought Hinata told me that only members of the main branch were taught that jutsu." said Naruto.

"Normally you'd be right Naruto-kun, but my eternal rival Neji is a certifiable genius and he found a way to learn it on his own." said Lee as he walked up next to Naruto and looked down at Neji before he gripped the railing hard and gritted his teeth before he added "He is truly the greatest genin from Konoha here. I doubt even you could stand against him."

Naruto got a smirk on his face as he looked down at Neji and said "Heh, I wouldn't bet on that."

Once Neji finished his jutsu he felt a sudden pain in his right shoulder and as he grabbed his shoulder he thought _'Huh, it looks like I put too much force in that area. I'll have to work on that later.'_ "I told you your trick wouldn't work on me. Now I think it's about time we get down to business."

Hinata had just enough time to get into her fighting stance before Neji was upon her. The two of them traded blow after blow until Hinata managed to nick Neji in the ribs which caused him to stumble backwards a couple of steps.

'_Yes, even I can…'_ thought Hinata as she went in for another blow.

Neji shoved Hinata's arm out of the way and delivered a palm strike directly to her face. The force of the blow knocked Hinata's head back and she stumbled backwards. Before Hinata could recover Neji charged in and nailed a direct hit to her chest.

Hinata's eyes widened in shock just as she coughed up some blood while Neji said "So, is this the full extent of the main branch's strength?"

Hinata staggered back and coughed up some more blood before the fierceness in her eyes returned and she said "I-I'm not done yet."

"Very well, since you seem so persistent in defying your fate. And since you're within the range of my eight trigrams, I'll show you a move I've been saving." said Neji who then got into his fighting stance and added "Hakke Rokujuuyonshou!" (Eight Divination Signs, 64 palms of the hand)

As Neji moved to make his first strike his eyes widen in shock when he saw Hinata get into a stance that was similar to his own._ 'What?! There's no way Hinata-sama has the skill to perform such a jutsu!'_

'_I can do this!'_ thought Hinata asthe fierceness in her eyes never wavered before she said "Shugo Hakke Rokujuuyonshou!!" (Guardian Eight Divination Signs, 64 palms of the hand)

"Would you look at that! And to think, Hinata wanted to stop training with Anko-neechan." said Naruto as he watched the two jutsu's collide.

Neji's frustration became apparent when Hinata continued to block his strikes. As this clash continued Neji started to feel pain in his hands from the continuous contact with Hinata's chakra defense.

Just then Neji saw an opening in Hinata's technique and took advantage of it. He managed to land another palm strike to Hinata's chest which caused her to stop her jutsu; she then collapsed to her knees and cough up some blood. As Hinata got back to her feet Neji rubbed his hands to try and dull the pain while he shook his head and then let out a sigh as he said "You surprised me there Hinata-sama, but in the end it changed nothing. This is the true difference between us. This is the distinction that separates the elite from the failure. This is the unchangeable reality. From the moment you said you won't run away, your defeat was inevitable. The only possible outcome was your present despair. I'll give you just one more chance… withdraw."

"I-I'll… never… give up. B-Because t-that's … my s-shinobi way now." stuttered Hinata as a defiant look returned to her eyes and she got back into her attack stance.

Neji closed his eyes and let out a sigh before he reopened them and said "Then as I said before. I will not be held responsible for the consequences."

But before Neji could do anything everyone shocked to hear Naruto shout "HINATA! USE IT!!"

Hinata's eyes widened in shock at Naruto's declaration, she then looked up at the balcony for conformation. When Naruto nodded his head, Hinata's eyes widened a little more before she bowed her head and then she shifted her stance into a form that no one had ever seen before.

"I don't know what you're planning Hinata-sama, but I assure you that it will end in failure." said Neji as he activated his byakugan and got into his fighting stance.

When Rock Lee saw Hinata's stance he got a curious look on his face, turned to his sensei and said "Gai-sensei, what fighting style is that? Is it another form of the Hyuuga style?"

"I don't know Lee. It's like nothing I've ever seen before." said Gai as he forgoes his usual rant about youthfulness and tried to figure out the style before him.

Naruto got a smile on his face as he crossed his arms and said "I'm not surprised you don't know about it. For this style has never been used before."

Both Lee and Gai looked at Naruto in wonder and after a few moments Lee asked "Wait! Naruto-kun, I know you told her to use it. But do you really know what that style is capable of?"

"Heh, of course I know. This style was created for the soul purpose of countering the Juken." said Naruto as the smile never left his face.

"That's not possible! If such a style existed surely I, The Great Taijutsu Master would have heard of it before now my youthful child." said Gai as he went into one of his nice guy poses for the end of his statement.

Naruto just shrugged his shoulders and simply said "Well there is now."

Lee turned his attention back toward Naruto and asked "Naruto-kun if you'll allow me, I'd like to know. How do you know all of this?"

Naruto's smile got a little bit bigger as he turned to look at Lee before he said "It's simple really. I created it."

Back in the arena Neji grew tired of waiting for Hinata to attack so he charged in and went to strike her midsection. Hinata narrowed her eyes when she saw Neji move to strike and she used this new style to block his attack.

Neji quickly recoiled his hand when he felt a sharp and agonizing pain run through the Tenketsu of his fingertips. He shook his hand a couple of times until the pain died down, he then looked over at Hinata and said "Why? Why do you fight so hard when fate has already decided the outcome of this match?"

"I-I told you when we started that I would n-no longer back down." said Hinata as she looked Neji in the eyes.

Neji glared at Hinata while he activated his Byakugan and said "We'll see about that."

"You created it?!" shouted both Gai and Lee as their eyes widened in shock and the jaws went slack.

Naruto looked at the two warily and said "That's what I said."

"YOSH!! Naruto-kun's flames of youth burn brightly indeed if he is able to counter my eternal rival's style!" shouted Lee who then bowed his head slightly and added "Please Naruto-kun, tell me how this style works. So that I may at long last defeat my eternal rival."

"No. If I just told everyone that asked me than I run the risk of someone finding a counter to my style. But I will say this it is purely a defensive style to be used only against Juken." said Naruto.

"But…" started Lee but was stopped when Gai put his hand on Lee's shoulder. Lee looked up at his sensei and said "…Gai-sensei?"

Gai gave Lee one of his nice guy grin and said "Let it go Lee. Though his flames of youth burn brightly, he has a point. It is his style and he has the right to choose who he teaches it too."

Lee looked at Gai for a moment before he got into one of his poses and said "All right! Since I cannot learn this style then I will just have to work even harder and increase my training after this exam is over!"

"That's the spirit LEE!" shouted Gai and he went into a nice guy pose and gave Lee a thumbs up before both of them embraced each other in a hug while shouting each others names.

Naruto just looked at the two as the embraced each other in a hug before he saw a genjutsu of a setting sun. He then turned to Haku and said "Haku-Chan, I know I don't have much knowledge about how guys are supposed to act with each other. But that just doesn't seem right."

Haku let out a sigh as she said "I know what you mean Naruto-kun. There's something unsettling about it."

Back in the arena Neji charged in and tried to land several blows to Hinata's vulnerable spots. Hinata managed to block each one which caused Neji to recoil in pain once again. As he rubbed his pain stricken hands he said "I don't know how you're doing it. But you've managed to stop each one of my attacks. Let's just see how long you can keep this up shall we?"

Neji the launched a series of vicious attacks, Hinata was able to block a great number of these strikes but Neji finally managed to get through her defenses and he landed a blow to her heart. Hinata got a shocked expression on her face as he quickly followed up his attack with two more strikes to this area which caused her to fall face first onto the arena floor.

"Hinata…" said Kurenai as she got a worried expression on her face and thought _'Please be alright Hinata. You may have lost the match, but you proved that you really have changed.'_

Meanwhile Gai got a solemn look on his face as he said "That was Neji's master stroke. It targets the heart. Just one blow is enough to incapacitate an opponent, but three! The poor girl will be luck to have survived."

Hayate looked at the two for a moment before he said "Seeing as the match can no longer go on I…"

"DON'T YOU DARE STOP IT!!" shouted Naruto which shocked nearly all of the shinobi present.

Haku gave Naruto a curious look and said "Naruto-kun, What are you thinking? Hinata-san's already unconscious."

Naruto looked Haku directly in the eyes and in a calm tone of voice said "Haku-Chan, can't you feel it?"

"What…" asked a curious Haku before she closed her eyes and focused her senses. Once she found what Naruto was talking about her eyes opened in shock and she turned to look down at the arena floor.

For a few moments nothing happened, and then suddenly Hinata's body shifted slightly. Naruto got a small smile on his face while everyone else looked on in shock as Hinata slowly made her way to her feet. Once Hinata was on her feet Neji looked at her curiously as he said "Why are you getting up? If you push yourself too far you will surely die."

Hinata kept her head lowered as she gasped for breath and thought _'… It's because the person I admire… the one who showed me there was more to me than just a failure… is watching me.'_

She then raised her head and looked at Neji before her thoughts continued _'And in front of him… I can't bring myself to look weak.'_ "Th-This isn't over yet!"

"Who do you think you're fooling?! With these all seeing eyes of mine, I can see that it's taking all your remaining strength just to keep on your feet." said Neji as he deactivated his Byakugan and grabbed his left shoulder as the pain flared once again.

As Hinata shifted her position to steady herself Neji continued "You've been burdened with the destiny of the main family. You've hated yourself for your weakness, and pushed yourself to get rid of that frailty. But you can't change your fate no matter how much you try. But you need not suffer anymore. Be at peace."

"But you're wrong Neji. I-I can see that it's really you who are torn and suffering. C-Caught between the destinies of the main and branch families!" said Hinata as a small trickle of blood rolled down her chin.

Neji's K.I. suddenly spiked as he glared at Hinata, he then activated his Byakugan and charged. Hayate's eyes widened in shock when he saw this and as he moved to intercede he shouted "Neji! The match is already over!!"

'_He's going in for the kill! BAA-CHAN!!'_ shouted Naruto in his mind as he felt Kyuubi's chakra flood his system. And just when Neji was about to get within striking distance a hand bathed in red chakra grabbed his wrist and halted his progress; not even a second later Kurenai, Hayate, Gai, and Kakashi surrounded them.

As Neji tried to free himself from Naruto's grip he heard a deep voice say "**WHY?**"

Neji looked over at Naruto and said "What…?"

"**I don't care what differences you two have, you're family! And Family members don't try and kill each other!! So why did you do it?!**" shouted Naruto as he raised his head to reveal that his eyes have turned from their usual blue color to a blood red color with black slits in them.

'_What the hell are you?'_ thought Neji when he saw Naruto's eyes but he quickly composed himself and said "This is a clan matter, and it doesn't concern you!"

Naruto tightened his grip on Neji's wrist and narrowed his eyes as he said "**LIKE HELL IT DOESN'T! When it involves the well-being of my friends, IT BECOMES MY CONCERN!!**"

When Hinata heard this, her eyes widened in shock before she felt a sharp pain in her chest which caused her to fall onto her hands and knees, and cough up some more blood. She then collapsed on her right side.

Naruto immediately shoved Neji over towards Gai and went to go and check on Hinata. As he checked Hinata's vitals he thought _'This is bad! Her heart muscle has been torn to shreds! She's got five minutes at best! Not to mention all the other internal injuries! Baa-Chan, I need more chakra!!'_

Kyuubi nodded her head behind her cage and said nothing; she simply channeled more of her chakra into Naruto. When Naruto's chakra spiked it startled many of the shinobi present and they wondered what he was going to do. Naruto himself simply closed his eyes and started to focus his chakra while going through a series of hand-seals.

While all this was going on Kushina had moved next to Tsunade and said "Shouldn't you go down and help the girl? She is one of Naruto-kun's friends right?"

"I don't think I'll really be needed. But I'd pay attention if I were you. Naru-chan is about to use a medical jutsu that has no rival." said Tsunade as she continued to observe Naruto's medical technique.

When Naruto finished the hand-seals he opened his eyes and focused all of the chakra to his hands. After this was done the chakra took on the shape of claws. Naruto then plunged the claws into Hinata's chest as he said "**Chiyu Tsume**!" (Healing Claw)

When Kurenai saw this she got a concerned look on her face and was about to approach Naruto when Haku suddenly landed in front of her and said "Don't break his concentration. If you do…"

Haku then turned to look at Naruto before she added "…Then both of them could die."

"But… what is he doing? Hinata needs medical attention! Besides that chakra is…" said a concerned Kurenai but stopped short when she realized she almost broke the Sandaime's law.

Haku turned back towards Kurenai and gave her a reassuring smile before she said "Hinata-san is getting medical attention. Naruto-kun is using a very powerful medical jutsu using that chakra."

"But… how do you know?" asked Kurenai referring to both of the questions swimming around in her head.

"He used this jutsu to save my life in Wave, and I had a hole in my chest. So don't worry, she'll be just fine." replied Haku as she turned her head to look at Naruto and Hinata again.

Just then Tsunade landed next to Haku and then she walked towards Naruto and Hinata. When she reached them, she looked at Hinata and saw color returning to her face. Immediately after this happened Naruto canceled his jutsu and fell on his butt gasping for breath while Kyuubi's chakra receded back into the seal.

After a few deep breaths Naruto said "Damn it, I still haven't mastered this jutsu yet!"

Tsunade shook her head slightly before she knelt down and checked Hinata's condition. After a few moments Tsunade got a smile on her face and said "Impressive as always Naru-Chan. She's completely healed no indications of the fight she was in just now. Once she has replenished her chakra stores she'll be as good as new."

A smile appeared on Naruto's face as he said "That's good to hear."

Naruto suddenly tensed when he felt a hand on his shoulder. But he soon relaxed when he heard Haku's concerned voice say "Are you alright Naruto-kun?"

"Yeah I'm ok Haku-Chan. Just give me a moment to catch my breath and I'll be fine." said Naruto as he patted Haku's hand and gave her a reassuring smile before he got to his feet.

Kushina's right eyebrow rose slightly when she saw Naruto's reaction to being touched and thought _'What was that all about?'_

Meanwhile Sarutobi was lost in his own thoughts about what just happened _'Remarkable! He was able to use the Kyuubi's chakra to completely heal Hinata. What kind of training method did Tsunade use to get Naruto's chakra control to such a level?'_

As the medics took Hinata off on a stretcher Naruto knelt down and put his hand in a pool of Hinata's blood. He then stood back up and raised his fist at Neji, while the blood dripped out from in-between his fingers he said "I swear to you Neji. Before this exam is over I'm going to kick your ass!!"

"A bold claim but as I told Hinata-sama, fate has already made its decision and it cannot be changed." said Neji as he felt another jolt of pain run through his shoulder and hands before he turned around and slowly headed back toward the balcony.

Naruto narrowed his eyes at the back of the retreating Neji and said "We'll see about that."

Temari watched Naruto as he walked over to the stairs that lead up to the Balcony, before she turned to Kankuro and said "Did you feel that Kankuro?"

"Yeah, it looks like we have another one taking the exam. If he sides with Konoha..." whispered Kankuro before he glanced over at Gaara and then shifted his gaze to Naruto.

Temari nodded her head as she finished Kankuro's sentence "I know… we could be in serious trouble."

As Naruto reached the top of the stairs Kurenai appeared in front of him and bowed slightly as she said "Thank-you for saving Hinata's life Naruto-san."

Naruto rubbed the back of his head as he gave her a foxy grin and said "You don't need to thank me. Hinata is my friend, so it was no big deal really."

"Humph some friend. She couldn't even win her match. A weakling like that doesn't deserve any help. After all it is survival of the strongest." said Sasuke as he kept his back to them and faced forward in an uncaring manner.

"Survival of the strongest? Now that's just sad. With an attitude like that I bet you don't have many friends. Do you Sasuke-teme?" asked Naruto in a mocking tone of voice.

Sasuke glared at Naruto for a moment before he said "That's none of your business. Besides if they aren't strong then why should I make them my friends? And as for your so called _FRIEND_, you just better pray she never finds herself my enemy. Because when I'm done with her no medical jutsu in the world would be able to save her."

Before anyone could react Naruto slammed Sasuke up against the wall and in a harsh tone said "Remember what I told you back in Wave Sasuke-teme. If you hurt anyone I care for not even Konoha will be able to protect you."

Naruto then slammed him up against the wall again before he let him go and continued on his way. The moment Naruto got a few steps away from Sasuke, Kakashi appeared in front and said "Was that really necessary Naruto?"

"I seem to remember you doing the exact same thing when your friends were threatened Kakashi." said Kushina as she walked up to the pair.

Kakashi turned to face Kushina before he said "That's not the same thing Kushina-san. The one I threatened wasn't a shinobi of Konoha, he was from another village. So I fail to see the comparison here."

Kushina let out a frustrated sigh and said "You still don't get it. Do you? He isn't a Konoha shinobi. Now then let me ask you this. If it had been a shinobi of Konoha, would you have done the same thing as Naruto-kun here?"

Kakashi lowered his head and remained silent. When Kushina saw this she simply said "I thought as much. Kakashi I'm only going to tell you this once so pay attention. You need to shape up; otherwise your faults will cause your students to suffer the same fate that a lot of your friends have. Do you understand me?"

Kakashi remained silent as he stepped aside to allow Naruto and Kushina to walk by. Once they were back at there previous vantage point Kushina put her hand on Naruto's shoulder and in a caring voice said "Naruto-kun I want you to know that I'm proud that you have such a devotion to your friends. But you need to make sure that you don't show just how much you care for them. Otherwise it could be used against you."

"I know I know, but I never really had friends before and I don't want to see the ones I do have get hurt." said Naruto as he looked out over the railing and stared down at the arena.

"What do you mean that you never really had friends before?" asked Kushina.

Naruto just stood there for a moment before he let out a sigh and said "Well before I met Kaasan and Shizune-neechan, Anko-neechan was the only one that would spend a lot of her free time with me. All of the villagers made sure their child had nothing to do with me. And even after Kaasan took me in we traveled around so much that it was hard to get to know anybody, not that I really tried."

When Kushina heard the tone he used for that last comment, the guilt she felt for leaving Naruto in Konoha deepened and in a sad tone of voice said "Naruto-kun…" _'This is all my fault. If I hadn't been so careless, I would have realized that the council members lied to me the moment the Ne tried to kill me. All his pain and suffering happened because I didn't even try and find out the truth. I just abandoned him to live in a place that treated him like shit.'_

Just as Kushina had finished berating herself the scoreboard made a noise that indicated that the next two opponents were chosen:

**Anika vs. Nara Shikamaru**

After both combatants were in the arena, Shikamaru let out a sigh and lazily said "Man this is such a nuisance. And really embarrassing…being expected to fight a girl…"

Anika got a pissed off look on her face and said "You're really embarrassed to fight me? ALL RIGHT THAT'S IT!! I'm going to make you pay for those words!"

"BEGIN!!" shouted Hayate to begin the next match.

'_Well, this is all I got!'_ thought Shikamaru and he formed a hand-seal and said "Kage Mane no Jutsu!" (Shadow Imitation Technique)

As the shadow grew closer Anika got a smile on her face as she tracked the shadow before she formed her own hand-seal and said "You'll have to do better that that! Kage Sekisho no Jutsu!" (Shadow Barrier Technique)

Shikamaru's eyes widened in shock when he saw Anika's shadow lighten for a second before it turned back to its original color. Then his shocked expression got even bigger when his shadow made contact with hers and nothing happened. His expression turned into a serious one as he thought _'Aw crud… she managed to block my jutsu. This is just my luck, to have to face another shadow wielder. But I thought my clan was the only one. So the question is, just who is she?'_

"Impossible!! Shikamaru's jutsu never fails!" shouted Ino as she leaned forward on the railing.

Asuma got a serious look and said "This could only mean one thing. Anika must have the ability to manipulate shadows."

Ino quickly turned around and faced Asuma before she said "Another shadow user? But I thought the Nara clan were the only shadow uses in all of the elemental nations."

"They are the most well known, but not the only ones. Anika's clan also has this ability. But from what I've seen their ability goes far beyond merely manipulating shadows with their own." said Akira as she looked over at Ino.

Asuma got a curious look on his face and asked "What do you mean?"

"You'll see what I mean soon enough." replied Akira as she returned her gaze to the two combatants.

A smile appeared on Anika's face when she saw the confusion in Shikamaru's eyes. She then started a series of hand-seals as she said "Looks like you're not the only shadow user here. Now does it? So let's see how you handle this one Kage Shokushu no Jutsu!" (Shadow Tentacle Technique)

Shikamaru's eyes grew wide when he saw a tentacle come out of Anika's shadow and headed straight for him. At the last moment Shikamaru dodged the tentacle and as he rolled out of the way he thought _'This is so troublesome, not only can she block my shadow attack from a direct assault, but she can also use long range shadow attacks. I've got to figure a way out of this.'_

Anika looked at Shikamaru and said "You know I'm not really fond of this kind of attack. It's too impersonal; I prefer to feel the kunai in my hand as I defeat my opponent."

"Then why are you using them to fight me?" asked a curious Shikamaru. _'If I can keep her talking long enough I might be able to think of a way out of this.'_

Anika just shrugged her shoulders and said "I just like the irony of defeating a shadow user with shadows that's all. Besides my brother would love to hear that someone he trained defeated a Nara."

As Shikamaru continued to dodge Anika's tentacle attack, Naruto got a curious look on his face and said "Brother? I know of only one other person outside of Konoha that can control shadows I wonder if he's this brother she's talking about?"

Akira looked over at Naruto and said "That's right Naruto-sama, Shadow's her older brother. But I'm surprised she's even using these attacks. She always preferred cold steel to dark shadows."

"So does that mean she has the same abilities that he does?" asked Naruto.

"No, Anika is just beginning to learn about her abilities so it will take her some time to learn some of his shadow skills." said Akira as she looked down at the arena and saw that Shikamaru had been driven underneath the balcony.

Anika got a smile on her face when she saw Shikamaru breathing hard. She took a couple of steps forward and said "It looks like you're at your limit. So why don't I finish this."

Anika then went for her daggers and just before she reached them; she suddenly found it difficult to move. When Shikamaru saw this he let out a sigh and said "Well, while it wasn't a complete success, you should be a lot easier to deal with now."

"What the hell did you do to me?!" shouted Anika as she struggled to move.

Shikamaru got a smile on his face as he said "Look behind you and everything will become clear."

Anika struggled to turn her head but once she was able to look behind her; her eyes widened in shock as she saw a shadow connected to hers coming from the shadows underneath the balcony behind her.

"You see I noticed that you would always watch my shadow before you focused your chakra. So I figured that you have to see it coming in order for that jutsu of yours to work. That's why I let you push me back underneath the balcony so I could use the shadows to attack from behind unnoticed. But it looks like you jutsu prevents mine from gaining complete control over your body." said Shikamaru as he shrugged his shoulders and then added "Well I guess that's life."

Shikamaru then walked up to Anika and grabbed both of her wrists with his left hand with he placed a kunai to her neck with his right. He then looked her in the eyes and said "Looks like I win."

Hayate looked at the two for a moment before he said "Anika is no longer able to defend herself. (Cough, cough) Therefore the winner is Nara Shikamaru!"

Shikamaru put his kunai away and canceled his jutsu before he put his hands in his pockets before he got a bored expression on his face turned and headed back toward the balcony; leaving an embarrassed Anika behind.

Naruto kept a close eye on Shikamaru as he made his way across the arena before he turned to Haku and said "He may not look like it, but he's dangerous."

"I agree Naruto-kun. While he's not as skilled as some of the others here, he makes up for it with his strategic genius." said Haku as she nodded her head in agreement.

After a few moments of silence Haku decided to change the subject. So she turned to Naruto and said "Naruto-kun I've been meaning to ask you this. But just what do you intend to ask that Kin person about anyway?"

Naruto contemplated this for a few moments before he said "Aside from the whole 'why did Orochimaru try to kill me in Tanzaku Town thing', I really haven't thought about it. I guess I'll figure out the other questions when we see her."

(Holding Cells)

Hawk looked down at his watch and after he checked the time he looked over at Wolf and said "Well I think we've keep her waiting long enough. Let's go in and see what we can find out."

"It's about time! I was getting tired of waiting." said Wolf as she rubbed the back of her neck and pushed herself off the wall.

As the two opened the door they saw Kin just sitting on the bed that was put in there for her. When Kin heard the door open she looked and saw the two shinobi, she then got a sad look on her face and said "So she finally caved in and let Konoha interrogate me, huh? I knew I couldn't trust her."

Wolf put her hands on her hips and said "We look like Konoha shinobi to you?"

Kin's eye widened in shock before a small smile crossed her face and she whispered "She kept her word after all."

Wolf then walked over to Kin and said "Well since you now know that we haven't lied to you why don't you answer our questions. Let's start with something simple, do you know why Orochimaru was after Tsunade-sama and her group in Tanzaku Town?"

When Kin remained silent Hawk got a little upset and said "Look we've been unusually nice to you, so why don't you be a good little girl and tell us what we want to know."

Kin remained silent for a few seconds longer before she finally said "Then why don't you tell me this, once I've told you everything I know, what's to stop you from killing me? That is standard procedure after you've finished with a prisoner, isn't it?"

"We don't operate in what you'd consider the norm. We don't have any intention of killing you. And as long as you don't try to escape or harm any of our shinobi your fate will be up to Kushina-sama." said Wolf as she tried to assure Kin that she was safe with them.

As Kin thought about this she suddenly heard a noise that sounded like a cricket chirping. She then looked up and noticed that the two shinobi in front of her had their right index and middle fingers up to their ears as if they were listening to something.

Then both Wolf and Hawk nodded their heads and Kin heard Hawk say "Understood, we'll be there in five."

As the two of them lowered their hands Wolf looked at Kin and said "Sorry, looks like we'll have to finish this later. Something has come up that requires our immediate attention. So why don't you think about what I said, and then make your decision."

After both of them left Kin heard the loud click of the door being locked and then she was left alone with her thoughts.

(Back At the Arena)

The scoreboard had finally chosen the next two opponents:

**Aburame Shino vs. Kankuro**

Kankuro got a smile on his face as he said "My turn… at last!"

Baki, the Jounin Sensei of the Suna team, frowned as he narrowed his eyes and thought _'Kankuro isn't even taking this seriously at all.'_

Meanwhile Gaara just stared at Kankuro as he thought _'…fool.' _

While the two opponents made their way to the arena, Kushina moved next to Tsunade and quietly asked "Tsunade-sama, what was up with Naruto-kun's reaction to being touched after he healed Hinata-san?"

Tsunade let out a sigh and said "It has to do with his past. As you already know Naru-Chan is always friendly and open with people. But while that is true, he has trouble with letting people get close to him. He's afraid that once they learn the truth about him, they'll be afraid of him and start to hate him. He just couldn't bear seeing the look of hatred in the eyes of those he cares about."

"But he doesn't seem to have that problem with you. But with Haku-san… I can see that he really cares about her. She already knows the truth and she doesn't hold it against him, so why is he hesitant to let her in?" asked Kushina.

Tsunade looked over at Kushina and said "It took me years to form the bond we now share, and as for Haku-san… I think that he's afraid that even though she's accepted him as a friend, she'll never care about him in any other fashion."

"That's bullshit Tsunade-sama! I know you can see how much Haku-san cares about him." said Kushina as she struggled to keep her voice low.

"I know but for some reason Naru-Chan refuses to act on it. I just wish there was something I could do." said Tsunade as she let out a sigh.

A smile appeared on Kushina's face as she said "Well what if we worked together to open Naruto-kun's eyes, so that he sees that Haku-san really does care about him."

Tsunade thought about this for a moment before she said "That sounds like a good idea. If we can get them together it would go a long way to help heal the trauma of his past here."

As both of them started to make there plans Naruto suddenly felt a shiver run down his spine. When Haku noticed this she asked "Is something wrong Naruto-kun?"

Naruto shook his head and looked over at Haku before he said "No nothing's wrong Haku-Chan. It's just that I've got this feeling that something bad is going to happen."

As Kankuro entered the arena he took off his wrapped package, which was about the size of a person, and slammed it against the ground as he said "This won't take long. Heh, I'll be finished with you in no time."

When Shino just remained silent and kept his hands in his pockets, Kankuro narrowed his eyes and thought _'Mister tough guy huh? You think you can mock me by just standing there acting like it didn't affect you. Well I'll show you just how dangerous I can be.'_

"All right then… you may begin." said Hayate as he looked at the two opponents.

The moment Hayate finished those words Kankuro attacked by trying to kick Shino in the head. The second Shino blocked this attack Kankuro shifted his weight and went for a punch to the face. Shino easily blocked this attack with his forearm and as he shoved Kankuro's arm to the side he said "I see you aren't taking me seriously. It will take more than this doll to beat me!"

Up on the balcony Ino got a confused look on her face and said "Doll? What is he talking about? I only see the two of them down there."

"The one fighting Shino isn't the real Kankuro, it's just a puppet. The real Kankuro is hiding somewhere nearby and controlling it's actions. That way he can stay out of harms way while the puppet does the dirty work." said Kakashi.

Just then the wrappings to Kankuro's human sized package came undone and revealed the real Kankuro. As Kankuro got to his feet he looked at Shino and said "I'm impressed you were able to tell that it was just a puppet. I didn't think anyone here knew that I was a puppet master."

"And now let me show you what this 'doll' can really do." said Kankuro as he started to move his fingers and manipulate his chakra. This caused the puppet's hand to pop back and a poison laced spike to pop out.

As the blade came down Shino got out of the way just in time. Shino landed a few feet away from the puppet and said "Your puppet is better than what I thought, but all I have to do is defeat the puppet master and the puppet will fall."

"Heh, I'm not that easy to defeat." said Kankuro.

Suddenly the puppet's mouth opened and two poison laced kunai shout out. The first kunai just grazed Shino's torso and continued on past him while the second one embedded itself into Shino's forehead protector.

Kankuro got a smile on his face as he said "Got'cha!"

His smile soon faded however as Shino morphed into a pile of bugs. As the bugs scurried away the pile got smaller and revealed that Shino was standing about five feet directly behind it. Shino was holding his side from the Kunai that not only nicked his Mushi Bunshin no Jutsu (Insect Clone Technique), but him as well.

When Kankuro saw Shino's state his smile reappeared as he said "You can already feel the poison flowing through your veins can't you? Don't worry I'll end your suffering before the poison kills you."

But when he ordered his puppet to attack the puppet just stood in place and didn't move. Kankuro tried to move it one more time but when that failed he looked at his puppet more closely and noticed all the bugs in the puppet's joints and thought _'Ugh! He must have used those bugs to jam the joints! I can't move him! No matter I don't need the body to deal with you.'_

Kankuro then severed the puppet's head from the body and swung it around so that it was heading for Shino. When the head got closer its mouth opened and a sharp spike coated in poison popped out. But before it could deliver the killer blow it suddenly fell to the ground.

'_What?!'_ thought Kankuro before he looked down at his hands and saw several insects crawling around on his fingers._ 'How did these bugs get on my hands? They chewed right through my chakra strings!!'_

Kankuro then heard a noise behind him and looked looked back only to see an army of bugs crawling up the back of his legs as they tried to cover his body. As the bugs forced Kankuro to the ground he shouted "What the…?! How did all these bugs get behind me?!"

"You were so focused on the bugs in your puppet that you failed to notice the ones that circled around behind you until it was too late. Right now they are consuming your chakra and once they're done you will no longer be a threat." said Shino as he continued to fight off the effects of the poison.

"Wh-What?!" shouted a concerned Kankuro.

"Don't worry they'll leave you with enough chakra so that you'll live but be unable to use jutsu until you rest a little." said Shino as he collapsed on one knee before he took a couple of deep breaths and then stood back up.

After the insects finished there job Hayate said "(Cough, cough) Since Kankuro is no longer able to continue the winner of the match is Aburame Shino."

The moment Hayate declared the winner Shino once again fell down on one knee. That's when the medics rushed in and put Kankuro on a stretcher while one of them started the process of removing the poison from Shino's system.

As this was going on Naruto turned to Haku and said "Well Haku-Chan, only one more match to go. And this one should be really interesting."

"What do you mean Naruto-kun?" asked Haku as she turned and gave Naruto a curious look.

"well If Baa-Chan and I are right, then that Suna shinobi Gaara… is like me." said Naruto as he lowered his voice for the last part.

Haku's eyes widened slightly at this before she turned to look at Gaara and said "Are you sure?"

Naruto just nodded and said "Yeah I'm pretty sure. I get the same feeling from him that I got from Yugito, and Baa-Chan seems to agree. Thou she doesn't know which one he has. So let's observe this fight very carefully, maybe we'll be able to figure out which one it is."

"Hai Naruto-kun." said Haku as both of them waited for the final match to start.

Next Chapter: Gaara vs. Lee! The power of youth explodes!

--

Author's Note2: Well I hope everyone enjoyed this Chapter. As you can see the prelims will be over in the next chapter and everyone will start their training. We will also see why I'll have Kakashi teach Sasuke the Chidori, So I hope to see you all next time.


	24. Chapter 24: Gaara vs Lee

-1

"Speech"

'_Thoughts'_

**Demon/Summon/inner Sakura speech**

_**Demon/Summon thoughts**_

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or any of the characters created by Kishimoto, but all OC's are my own creation.

Fettucini: I'm sorry you have to skip most of the fight, but you do have a point and that's why Hinata didn't make it past this round. While it's true that she has been training with Anko, she's only been doing this for about a month and her self-esteem is up to the level it was at the same time in cannon. I think this is a huge step for her considering how bad she was when Naruto first met her in Wave. I also plan on developing her character more and her confidence will continue to grow. (I also plan to have a rematch between these two later in the story)

Sin Saiori: That right the Naru/Sasuke fight will go uninterrupted and will have a clear winner.

bumike99: Don't worry you'll get to see what they are capable of during the Oto/Suna invasion.

Narutomaniac: You do have a point about Kakashi willingly teaching him the Chidori but during this chapter you will see that Kakashi is given a chance to change the way people view someone in exchange for teaching Sasuke the Chidori. I just hope you like the idea about this.

apocalyps24: Don't let the title fool you this chapter focuses on more than just Gaara and Lee's fight.

jjayno1: Really? I thought he was poisoned and then saved by his father's bugs during the invasion.

chinoodin: I do have plan for her but I want to keep them to myself until I iron out all the details.

saki-myamoko: Naruto will try and show Sasuke the error of his ways in the finals.

Author's notes: Well he's the next Chapter I know it took me a little longer that it usually does but I had a lot to cover in this chapter and I hope you enjoy it.

Now on with the Story

--

Chapter 24: Gaara vs. Lee! The power of youth explodes!

(Namikaze Vault)

Raven remained silent as she watched the group of twelve Ne ANBU search the dank and damp barren Vault room as she waited for her backup to arrive.

After a mouse scurried across the room one of the Ne members stopped what he was doing and got an irritated look on his face as he grumbled "Why are we doing this again? We already gave this room a thorough search, years ago and found NOTHING! We're just wasting our time here!"

The Ne Leader stopped what he was doing and walked over to the member that just spoke and once he was in front of the Ne; he smacked him upside the head before he shouted "Fool! Didn't you read the reports! Four Days ago the Jinchuuriki and his teammate entered this room and when they left he possessed a scroll he didn't have before. When our master heard about this, he ordered me to find out where the Jinchuuriki got the scroll. So there must be a secret room in here. How else would he have found the scroll?"

"Jinchuuriki? Do you mean that demon brat who somehow managed to corrupt Tsunade-sama? How would he know of such a room?" asked the Ne.

"My guess would be that Sono Ru- Ijin (The Redheaded Devil) informed the Jinchuuriki about the room. She was close to Yondaime-sama, so it wouldn't surprise me if he told her about it at some point." said the Ne Leader.

The Ne looked at his leader for a moment before he said "Sono Ru-Ijin? That traitor should have just accepted her fate and died a long time ago. Like she was suppose to."

The Ne Leader simple turned around and went back to searching the room before he quietly said "All in good time."

After Raven heard this, she had to use every ounce of her training to calm herself and not reveal her location. She narrowed her eyes at the group in the vault from her vantage point and thought _'Have to remain calm; I don't want to give away my position. If I let my anger get the best of me what would Sensei say?'_

The moment Raven finished that line of thought Hawk and Wolf appeared by her side. Wolf looked and Raven and said "What's going on?"

"Ne is currently searching the Namikaze vault looking for Yondaime-sama's secret vault. And before you ask I found out about this when I followed the two Ne that visited a person Kushina-sama told me to keep an eye on. They met up with the rest and then came here where they've been searching the vault ever since." said Raven as she peered towards the vault to make sure none of the NE noticed the arrival of her two teammates.

Wolf nodded her head when she heard this before she did a quick glace around and noticed someone was missing so she asked "Where's Crow?"

Raven turned to face Wolf and said "I told Crow to inform Kushina-sama about what was going on. So unless they find the secret vault we will not engage them until Kushina-sama arrives."

(Back in the Arena)

Hayate moved to the center of the ring and said "(Cough, cough) Well it's the final round. Will the two remaining competitors please step forward!"

Suddenly a swirl of sand appeared beside Hayate and Gaara became visible. As the sand died down Gaara looked up at Lee and said "Don't keep me waiting."

Lee kicked the air a couple of times and was about to jump down into the arena when Gai put his hand on Lee's shoulder and said "Lee! Be weary… that gourd of his is very suspicious."

"I see…" said Lee as he started to jot it down in a notebook.

Naruto shook his head and looked over at Haku and said "Is this guy for real? He does realize that in the heat of battle he won't be able to look at his notes?"

"I don't know Naruto-kun. Don't forget that those two can have a sun set as they display their affection. So who can say." replied Haku as she shrugged her shoulders.

After Gai gave Lee his advice he shoved his fist into the air and shouted "ALL RIGHT GO GET'M LEE!!"

"YES SIR!" shouted Lee as he hopped over the railing and landed in the arena.

As Lee stood up right he got a smile on his face and said "Facing you so soon… Makes me very happy."

The moment Lee landed on the ground; Crow appeared in a swirl of leaves right next to Kushina. He then knelt down and said "Kushina-sama I have an urgent message from Raven-san."

Kushina turned to face him and said "Go ahead."

Crow bowed his head before he said "Raven-san informed me about a group of _Shinobi_ that have broken into the _Vault _and are currently looking for _something."_

Naruto's head immediately snapped up when he heard this and moved over to Crow and said "WHAT?! Are you sure about that?"

"Hai! Raven-san has never been wrong before." said Crow as he turned to face Naruto.

Naruto clinched his fist and then turned to Tsunade and said "Kaasan! We have to do something! If they get a hold of what's in there…"

Tsunade nodded her head in agreement but before she could say anything Kushina walked up to Naruto and in a caring said "I also agree Naruto-kun, but my shinobi are already on it. So why don't you let them handle this?"

"Sorry I can't do that. Those bastards have already managed to take almost everything else away from me. And I'll be damned if I'm going to let them take anything else away without a fight!!" said Naruto as he looked fiercely into Kushina's eyes.

After a few moments Kushina let out a sigh and turned to Tsunade before she said "Well what do you think Tsunade-sama? Should we let him help out?"

Tsunade thought about this for a few seconds before she said "Only if one of us goes with him. We don't know the skill level of these Shinobi so it's best to err on the side of caution."

"Agreed. Since my shinobi will be involved I'll go with Naruto-kun. You should stay here so we don't arouse too much suspicion." said Kushina.

"Very well… I'll stay." mumbled Tsunade before she walked over to Naruto and gave him a hug before she pull back with a reassuring smile on her face and added "Naru-Chan, please be careful. Okay?"

When Naruto saw the concern in Tsunade's eyes he got a smile on his face and said "Don't worry Kaasan, I will. That's a promise."

Naruto then turned to Haku and saw that she wanted to help too so he said "Haku-Chan I'm counting on you to give me your analysis on Gaara's skills later. That way we'll be able to figure out or problem from earlier. Alright?"

"But Naruto-kun I…" said Haku before she trailed off and lowered her head.

"Hey, you're one of the few people I trust to do this ok. I know you won't let me down." said Naruto as he put his hand under her chin and lifted her face up so that they made eye contact.

When Haku saw the look in his eyes she nodded and said "Alright Naruto-kun, I'll stay here and conduct the surveillance. Just be careful like you promised ok?"

"You bet I will! And Haku-Chan, I owe you one." said Naruto as he gave her a short wave before he turned to Kushina and added "Ok, let's get going."

"I'm going too."

Naruto and Kushina turned in the direction of the voice only to see Zabuza push himself off the wall and walk over toward them. When he got within a few feet he rubbed the back of his neck to get a kink out as he said "I've been bored ever since this exam began. I could use some action right about now."

"Fine but try no to take things too far Zabuza. Remember we need them to tell us what they have planned." said Kushina as she gave him a harsh glare.

Zabuza shrugged his shoulders and grumbled "Whatever, just because you need them alive doesn't mean they have to have all their body parts. Now does is?

Kushina shook her head and let out an aggravated sigh as she said "Just make sure it's not a fatal wound. Now let's get going!"

"Not a problem." said Zabuza as he smiled behind his mask before all three of them disappeared in a puff of smoke.

After the three of them left Tsunade looked over at Haku and noticed her worried expression. So Tsunade put her hand on Haku's shoulder and said "You really care about Naru-Chan don't you?"

"H-Hai but…" started Haku before she went silent and lowered her head.

"You're wondering why Naru-Chan is always keeping you out. Aren't you?"

Haku didn't say anything; she just nodded her head in agreement. Tsunade let a smile appear on her face and in a calming tone said "It's nothing personal. I happen to know for a fact that he cares a great deal about you it's just… his past has made him weary to let anyone get too close. If anything you've already made remarkable progress."

"Really?" asked a confused Haku.

"Yes. You're the first person, outside of our family, that he's gotten this close too. So just give it some time and keep at it, and I'm sure Naru-Chan will open up to you." said Tsunade as she let her warm smile get a little bigger.

Hakus concerned looked turned into a happy one as a small smile appeared on her face and she said "Hai! I will Tsunade-san, I'll keep at it until Naruto-kun finally lets me in."

"Good girl." said Tsunade as her reassuring smile got even bigger before she thought _'That's a relief, she had me worried for a second. Now all we have to do is figure out a way to get Naru-Chan to accept Haku-san's feelings.'_

Down in the arena, Hayate looked at the final competitors before he said "BEGIN!! (Cough, cough)"

"Let us have a good match" said Lee before he charged in and went for a kick to the head while he shouted "Konoha Senpuu!!"

But just before Lee's kick made contact the sand around Gaara came to life and blocked the kick. Surprised Lee shifted his weight and threw a punch at Gaara's face. Once again the sand protected Gaara and prevented the punch from landing. Undaunted Lee went into a series of punches and kicks, all of which were blocked by Gaara's sand shield. But when Lee threw his last kick Gaara's sand wrapped around his ankle; the sand then threw Lee across the room. At the last second Lee was able to rotate his body so that his feet hit the wall. He then pushed off the wall and landed on top of the huge bronze statue that was off to the side of the arena.

The moment Gai saw Lee land he shoved his fist into the air and shouted "LEE!! TAKE THEM OFF!!"

Confused Lee looked over at Gai and shouted "B-But Gai-sensei!! You said never to do that unless I was defending those that are important to me!!"

"DON'T WORRY LEE!! I'LL ALLOW IT!" shouted Gai as he gave Lee the thumbs up.

Lee got a huge smile on his face and started to jump up and down for a few moments as he laughed hysterically. Lee then sat down and removed his shin wraps and revealed that he had weights strapped to his shins. Lee then took off the weights and stood up before he released the weights and shouted "AT LAST!! I CAN MOVE FREELY!!"

Temari got a smirk on her face as mockingly said "Weights?! Does he really believe that dropping a few pounds will enable him to beat Gaara?"

Everyone in the room was completely shocked the moment the weights hit the ground and created two massive craters. Tsunade looked the two craters and thought _'Holy Shit!! Just how much weight was that kid carrying in order to create craters that big?!'_

Tsunade is brought out of her thoughts when Gai suddenly shouts "NOW GO GET HIM LEE!!"

"Yes sir!!" said Lee before he suddenly disappeared.

Gaara's eyes widened at Lee's sudden display of speed before a punch suddenly connected with his chin which caused him to go sailing towards a nearby wall. The moment Gaara slammed into the wall cracks appeared as a huge cloud of dust erupted and completely covered that section of the arena.

Temari's shocked expression soon turned to one of concern as she said "Gaara…"

(Namikaze Vault)

Kushina, Naruto, Zabuza, and Crow arrived just outside of the vault when they were confronted by Raven and the others. Kushina turned her attention towards Raven and asked "What's the situation?"

"Kushina-sama, currently there are three squads of Ne searching the vault. Two members are stationed as guards at the entrance, while we believe the rest are searching for Yondaime-sama's secret vault." said Raven as she stood at attention and waited for Kushina's orders.

Kushina brought her hand up to her chin and thought about the situation for a moment before she said "I see. Zabuza do you think you can take care of those guards without being noticed?"

"Easily." replied Zabuza as a sinister smile appeared on his face.

"Good, then I want you and Hawk to take out those guards. After that we can move in and capture the rest." said Kushina as she glanced over at the vault door and saw the two guards standing just inside.

"Capture? We should kill them now so they won't pose a threat to us in the future." gripped Hawk as he reached into his pouch and pulled out two kunai.

Kushina fixed her gaze on Hawk and in a harsh tone of voice said "No! We need them alive, so we can find out what Danzou's really after. So no one is to be killed. Is that understood?"

Once everyone nodded their head in agreement Zabuza and Hawk then moved in to handle the guards.

The two Ne guards never knew what hit them as Hawk quickly knocked out his target with a quick and decisive blow to the back of the neck. While Zabuza pulled out two senbon and punctured two pressure points at the base of the neck. After the two Ne guards were drug out into the main hallway Naruto looked at Zabuza and said "Heh, I never would have guessed. So it really was you that taught Haku-Chan how to use senbon on the pressure points."

Zabuza got an irritated look on his face and grumbled "Of course it was me. Who else do you think would have trained her in that skill?"

"I had no clue really, it's just that senbon don't seem to be your style that's all."

Before Naruto and Zabuza could continue they heard one on the Ne members shout "Over here! I found something!!"

Kushina looked at Zabuza and shouted "Zabuza NOW!!"

Zabuza immediately understood and focused his chakra as he said "Kirigakure no Jutsu!!" (Hidden Mist Technique)

As the mist rolled in and cover the Vault The Ne Leader looked around when he suddenly heard a terrifying scream. When he and the rest of his group ran over to investigate all they found was a severed arm and no trace of the body.

The Ne leader silently cursed and then did a series of hand-seals and created a huge gust of wind which cleared the mist out of the vault and revealed Naruto and the others. When the Ne leader saw them he issued his orders "Shit! They found us out!! Three of you take Sono Ru- Ijin! The rest of you take care of the others! But leave the Jinchuuriki alone! He's mine!!"

The Ne squadrons quickly complied with the orders, and Kushina soon found herself surrounded by three Ne Shinobi. She looked at each of the three Ne that surrounded her before a smirk appeared on her face and she said "Only the three of you? This hardly seems worth my time."

"You think too highly of yourself. Your underestimation of us will be your downfall." said one of the Ne as he pulled out his sword and readied an attack.

"Did I now?" said Kushina before the Ne Shinobi suddenly felt a gust of wind which caused him to close his eyes.

When Kushina saw that their eyes were closed she sprinted towards the Ne to her left and delivered a punch to his solar-plexus which rendered him unconscious. As he fell to the ground she moved behind the one that was on her right and put him in a sleeper hold. With the blood circulation cut off it didn't take long for this one to lose consciousness as well. Kushina then released her hold on him and as his body fell limply to the ground she looked the Ne, that was standing in front of her, in the eyes and in a menacing tone of voice said "Now, who underestimated who?"

The Ne backed away from Kushina only to discover that Kushina had somehow managed to get behind him. Before he could even react he felt a sharp pain at the base of his neck, and as everything started to fade he heard Kushina said "You and your friends are going to tell me everything I want to know."

Kushina looked up from her unconscious opponent and saw Raven's hands covered in chakra as she merely dodged her opponents punch and gently touched the upper part of his calf before he crumpled to the ground. Raven then touched a pressure point at the base of his neck which rendered him unconscious.

Once Kushina saw that Raven was finished with her opponent she glanced around and saw that Hawk deliver a powerful kick to the Ne's nether regions and after he fell to his knees and put his hands over his privets; Hawk deliver a fierce punch to the Ne's face which knocked him out.

Kushina then saw Wolf get down on all fours and charge her opponent who was too slow to dodge the attack in time and got clawed across the chest. As he took a couple of steps back Wolf used her speed to appear behind him and clubbed him in the back of the head with the butt of one of her kunai. Once the Ne fell to the ground she said "Heh, too slow."

Crow then got Kushina's attention when he dodged the kick aimed for his head. He then countered with an elbow to the gut and while his opponent doubled over in pain he delivered a powerful front kick directly to the guys chin. The force of the blow was strong enough that it snapped the Ne's head back and collide with the wall that was directly behind him. As he collapsed to the floor Crow took a couple of deep breaths as he said "A shinobi should always be aware of his surroundings."

A scream was suddenly heard which came from the Ne that had just received a cut to his chest by Zabuza. The Ne then blocked the next strike made by Zabuza, so Zabuza used his free hand and punch the Ne in the face. As the Ne recovered from this blow Zabuza used the flat part of his blade and smashed it against the Ne's knees. The impact of such force crushed both of his kneecaps. After his opponent feel to his knees Zabuza used the butt end of his sword and hit him on the top of his head before he grumbled "Pathetic."

As Wolf and Crow tie up the captured Ne, Kushina looked at her group and said "I wonder how Naruto-kun is doing?"

Before anyone could answer the sound of metal hitting metal could be heard, and everyone looked over in time to see the Ne Leader block another one of Naruto's strikes. The Ne Leader counterattacked with a slashed aimed directly at Naruto's neck, but at the last second Naruto is able to bring his sword up and block the strike.

As the two separate the Ne Leader is imprested and as he gets back into his stance he said "Impressive, you are indeed far stronger than we originally thought. You're skill with the blade is truly surprising. However, I still hold the advantage."

"Heh, don't count me out just yet. I'm only getting warmed up." shouted Naruto as he started to channel some of his chakra into his sword. He then charged the Ne Leader and moved to strike him with his wind manipulation.

The Ne Leader was surprised to see such a technique used by one so young but he focus chakra into his own blade and blocked the assault. Before Naruto could react the Ne Leader put more force behind his block and twisted it in a way that cause Naruto to lose his grip. When this happened the force the Ne Leader had applied earlier caused Naruto's blade to skid across the room.

(Back at the arena)

When the dust finally settled Lee looked on in shock as Gaara got to his feet with bits of sand falling off his face. Once Lee got a good look at Gaara his jaw dropped as he said "Impossible! My blow didn't affect him at all!"

"To be able to manipulate the sand like that, Gaara's control is quite impressive. But I think that armor comes at too high of a cost." said Haku as she continued to stare down into the arena.

"Very observant Haku-san. You're right that armor of his is riddled with weaknesses. I wonder if this is his last line of defense?" said Tsunade as she walked up beside Haku.

Haku took this moment to ask "Tsunade-san? Have you heard anything from Naruto-kun yet?"

Tsunade looked over at Haku and said "No, but they haven't been gone that long. So just keep your mind on the task at hand and he'll be back before you know it."

"Hai." said Haku as she turned her attention back to the arena.

Back in the arena Gaara just stood still for a moment before he suddenly took half a step back and grabbed his forehead before he started to laugh manically. Once his laughing fit had calmed down he mumbled "You see mother, his blood will be won't be rancid after all. I'll be sure to give you as much as you desire."

Gaara then shot his sand out towards Lee, as the sand drew closer it suddenly shifted its appearance into that of a giant hand. Lee did several back-flips in order to avoid the giant hand. As he did this he unwrapped his bandages and thought _'I'm sorry Gai-sensei but I must use it.'_

When Gaara used his sand to attack again Lee dodged the assault before he suddenly disappeared. Gaara's eyes widened a little in shock before he felt Lee's foot kick him in the chin as Lee shouted "Omotu Renge!" (Front Lotus)

Lee was surprised when Gaara didn't go very far off the ground, so he moved to strike again and after about the third strike; Lee suddenly found that Gaara's sand had wrapped itself around his waist. Gaara then hurled him across the room. After Lee skidded to a halt he looked up and saw all the damage that was done to Gaara's armor heal itself. He then wiped some blood from the corner of his mouth and thought _'It's so frustrating! No matter how much damage I do, I still can't penetrate his armor! It looks like I'm going to have to go all out.'_

Lee then briefly glanced over at Neji and thought _'I had originally planned to save this for you Neji. So I hope you watch this and see that hard work can overcome any short comings.'_

(Namikaze Vault)

The Ne Leader pointed his sword at Naruto and said "Without your sword you're not much of a threat. And with your death no one else will be able to interfere with our plans."

"Why the hell am I such a threat to your plans?! Don't you think Kushina and the others are just as much a threat as I am?" asked Naruto as he tried to stall for time.

"Not like you are."

Naruto's right eyebrow twitched as he thought _'Not like I am?! What the hell's that suppose to mean?! Doesn't this guy know that he's supposed to tell me his plan before he tries to kill me!!'_

"**Come on Kit I know you don't really believe that. SO what do you plan to do now?**" asked Kyuubi.

'_Isn't it obvious? I'm just going to have to find a way to beat it out of him, that's all.'_ came Naruto's sarcastic reply as he tried to figure out a way to pull it off.

Naruto full attention was brought back to the Ne Leader when he suddenly charged while he yelled "Now we end this!!"

Raven was about to jump in and help Naruto when Zabuza suddenly put his sword in front of her and said "Don't interfere."

"Are you MAD?! Naruto-sama doesn't have his Kodachi anymore! He needs our help!" shouted Raven as she glared at Zabuza.

Zabuza's face remained expressionless as he turned to look at Raven before he said "He'll never improve if you jump in every time things don't go his way."

"But that guy's already threatened to kill Naruto-sama! If we don't help him now he could die!"

Before Zabuza could reply, Kushina put her hand on Raven's shoulder and said "I know how you feel Raven, but Zabuza is right. As much as it pains me, we won't interfere unless absolutely necessary."

Just then The Ne Leader did a thrust aimed at Naruto's head in an attempt to pierce his skull. However at the last second Naruto leaned back which caused the blade to miss his head. Naruto then continued with the back flip and used the momentum to kick the sword right out of the Ne Leader's hands and then it imbedded itself into the ceiling.

A smirk appeared on Naruto's face as he got back into his fighting stance and said "It appears that we're on even footing now. Wouldn't you say?"

"It matters not, I will still kill you." replied the Ne Leader as he got into his own fighting stance.

"We'll see about that."

The Ne Leader charged in and threw a punch a Naruto's head. Naruto avoided this blow and countered with an uppercut but the Ne Leader dodged this and went for a spinning roundhouse kick to the head. Naruto ducked and did a sweep to the Ne Leader's legs.

The Ne Leader jumped to avoid this and then came down with a heel kick. Naruto was able to step out of the way in time but the moment he landed, the Ne Leader spun around and landed a back fist on Naruto's right cheek.

Naruto spun with the force of the blow to lessen the impact. He the completed the spin and tried to deliver his own left handed back-fist to the Ne Leader's face. The Ne Leader just took a step back to dodge the back-fist, he then pulled out a kunai and went to stab Naruto as he said "Nice try but you'll have to do better than…. WHAT?!"

As the Ne Leader's kunai pierced the flesh of Naruto's right shoulder, Naruto delivered a spiraling mass of blue chakra with his right hand to the man's chest as he shouted "RASENGAN!!"

Kushina and the others (except Zabuza) looked on in shock as the Rasengan made contact with the Ne Leaders chest. A few moments later he went spiraling out of the vault and crashed into the wall on the opposite side. The force of the impact was so great that it literally shook the building.

(Arena)

Sarutobi looked around the room to make sure everyone was ok before he signaled the closest Jounin. When a Jounin with swept back black hair with brown eyes, and wearing a standard Jounin uniform appeared by his side he ordered "Kugutsu I want you to find out what caused that. If Naruto and Kushina are involved I want you to detain whoever it is they are fighting and take them into custody. Understood?"

Kugutsu bowed his head and relied "Hai Hokage-sama. My team will take care of this right away."

Sarutobi nodded his head and after Kugutsu disappeared in a puff of smoke, Anko walked over to Sarutobi and asked "Hokage-sama, why didn't you send me?! You know I'd be able to extract the information from whoever the Gaki encountered!"

"That maybe true Anko, but if it is what I suspect it is. Its best you stay out of it so no one can pull anything funny to get the perpetrators off. Now let's get back to watching the prelims shall we?" said Sarutobi as he turned his attention back to the arena.

Anko let out a defeated sigh and said "Very well…"

Lee got a small smirk on his face as he said "One way or another… this move will be the last ."

Tsunade's eyes widened in shock when she saw Lee cross his forearms in front of his face and then felt a massive chakra spike. When she felt a second charka spike she grabbed Gai by his Jounin vest and slammed him up against the wall and shouted "ARE YOU INSANE?! Teaching a Genin such a dangerous technique! What the HELL were you thinking?!"

Gai looked directly into Tsunade's eyes and said "He has the talent. And I'll do whatever it takes to help him accomplish his dream."

Tsunade's left eyebrow twitched slightly before she slammed Gai into the wall again and asked "How many Gai?! How many gates can he open?!"

"He's reached the fifth gate."

"THE FIFTH GATE!! Gai… you do remember what happens to a person when they open the eighth and final gate. Don't you?" asked Tsunade as she narrowed her eyes and glared at Gai.

"If he ever manages to open the eighth gate… then he'll die." replied a solemn looking Gai.

Just then Haku interrupts the two as she asked "Gates? What are you talking about?"

Tsunade released Gai and looked over at Haku before she said "They are what regulate the chakra flow in the Keirakukei. When these gates are forced open they can give the user the ability to draw upon a strength that is several times more powerful than what they are normally capable of doing. But this comes at a terrible cost…"

Haku got a concerned look on her face as she said "It's what Gai-san said earlier isn't it? The cost is your life."

Tsunade nodded her head in agreement before she added "Only if you are able to open all of the gates. With all the others, it just causes a huge strain on the body which could possible lead to life altering injuries. It's a double-edged sword."

Back in the arena Lee's chakra did another massive spike as his skin changed color and the pupils in his eyes disappeared as he said "Seimon release!"

But Lee didn't stop there he crouched down and drew on even more power. "And while I'm at it. Shomon release!"

Suddenly a huge gust of wind appeared as Lee vanished before everyone's eyes. Before anyone could even blink Lee delivered a massive kick to Gaara's chin which sent him sailing into the air.

Haku looked up at Gaara and thought _'Lee's before so fast. I dare say he might be even faster than me.'_

The next thing anyone knew, Lee was already in front of Gaara and punched him back towards the ground. But before Gaara could even get close to the ground Lee appeared behind him and punched him back into the air. Lee then went about knocking Gaara around like his was a ping-pong ball, and once Gaara's armor started to peel away Lee shouted "This is my chance! Tomon release!!"

Lee then delivered a powerful punch directly to Gaara's face which sent him hurling back toward the ground. Lee then used his wrist wraps to pull Gaara back toward him. He then used this momentum to deliver a punch and kick to Gaara's torso and he shouted "Ura Renge!!" (Reverse Lotus)

But just before Gaara hit the ground his gourd suddenly started to dissolve and become sand. The impact caused the crater that Naruto made earlier to become even bigger as a big cloud of dust filled the arena. Lee suddenly rolled out of the dust cloud and got up on one knee panting heavily.

When the dust finally cleared Lee looked on in horror as he saw that the sand Gaara's gourd turned into actually was able to absorb a lot of the impact, which let Gaara badly beaten but still able to fight.

(Namikaze Vault)

Naruto pulled the kunai out of his shoulder and threw it to the ground before his left hand glowed with green chakra and he brought it up to his wound. As he healed his injury Naruto looked at the cracked and pitted concrete wall. He then shook his head in disappointment and grumbled "Damn! I underestimated the destructive power of the Rasengan. This much damage was caused without even using half of the chakra I put into it when I fought Kabuto. I'll have to be more careful in the future."

Just then Naruto was brought out of his thoughts when Kushina walked up to him and asked "N-Naruto-kun, when did you learn the Rasengan?"

Naruto looked over at Kushina for a moment before he said "Huh? Oh! I had just mastered it the day before we first met."

"Just mastered it?! Naruto-kun may I ask how long it took you to learn it?" asked Kushina as she just stood there in shock.

Naruto thought about it for a little while and said "Let's see, If I remember correctly it took me about a week to get it to a workable level."

Kushina went into an even deeper state of shock when she heard this, before a proud smile spread across her face as she thought _'O-Only one week!! It took Minato-kun years to create it and Jiraiya months to learn it. Naruto-kun I'm so proud of you right now.'_

But before she could voice her feelings everyone heard a soft moan coming from the wounded Ne Leader. This caused Naruto to walk over to him and grab him by the collar of his outfit and said "Now… you're going to tell me everything you know. So let's start with the reason why your master wants me dead."

Before the Ne Leader could respond however a group of Konoha shinobi appeared. Kugutsu looked around at the scene before him before he said "Alright we'll take it from here Naruto-san."

"LIKE HELL!! These people were caught searching my clan's vault! So they're under MY jurisdiction." argued Naruto as he glared at Kugutsu.

Kugutsu got a confused look on his face and asked "What are you talking about Naruto-san? This building use to belong to the Namikaze Clan, not the Uzumaki Clan. When the clan was wiped out during the Kyuubi assault all clan property was turned over to the council and the belongings were giving to the Hokage for safe keeping. Besides this order came from Hokage-sama himself, and I intend to follow his orders."

Naruto was about to rebuke him when Kushina suddenly said "It looks like we have no choice then. Fine you can take them."

"KUSHINA?!" snapped Naruto as he turned to glare at her.

Kushina ignored Naruto's glare and narrowed her eyes at Kugutsu and in a dark tone of voice said "But you can expect me to take this matter up with the old man. I don't like it we others interfere with family matters."

"That is your right Kushina-san, but I'm giving you this warning. The people of Konoha have a high sense of honor, so show Hokage-sama the proper respect he deserves or there could be trouble." said Kugutsu as he tried to remain respectful.

Naruto literally scoffed when he heard this and then said "Konoha has a high sense of honor? Heh, I guess that just depends on who you are."

Kugutsu's right eyebrow raised slightly in confusion before he asked "What are you talking about? Never mind, I don't have time right now I have to take these thieves into custody and get them medical attention."

After Kugutsu and his team took the Ne and dragged them off toward the holding cells Naruto turned to Kushina and said "What the hell was that all about?! Now we'll never know what they were planning now!"

"Calm down Naruto-kun. You know as well as I do that I didn't have a choice there. If we had resisted, I'm sure there are certain members of the council that would have tried to use that against us. And since we really haven't figured out what precisely going on, it's best that we don't do anything to have us closely watched. Understand?" said Kushina as she got an apologetic look on her face.

Naruto crossed his arms over his chest and grumbled "Yeah, yeah I understand where you're coming from. But that doesn't mean I have to like it."

A smile appeared on Kushina's face as she said "Good, and don't worry. I'll talk with the old man after the prelims, and get those men back in our custody."

Naruto's narrowed his eyes slightly before he walked over to where his Kodachi was. After he picked it up, he put it back in its sheath and said "I think we better clear out that room as soon as we can. That way none of the scrolls will fall into their hands."

Kushina nodded her head in agreement and then turned to the others and said "Good idea. Alright Wolf I want you to keep an eye on this vault until we get back. The rest of you head back to your assigned duties. While we go and find out just who Naruto-kun will be facing in the finals."

Everyone nodded their heads respectfully and then took of for their assigned duties.

(In a Corridor Leading to the Holding Cells)

Kugutsu wondered what Naruto meant by his words when he was brought back to his task at hand when his group turned a corner and almost ran into Danzou and his entourage. Kugutsu bowed his head and said "My apologies Danzou-sama. We didn't mean to almost run into you there but I was unaware of your presence at the preliminary rounds."

"It's quite alright Kugutsu-san. I didn't really come here for the Prelims. I was coming for these thieves actually." said Danzou as he gestured for Kugutsu to raise his head.

"I don't understand? Hokage-sama ordered me to take care of this." said a confused Kugutsu as he lifted his head and looked Danzou in the eyes.

Danzou let a smile cross his face as he said "Indeed, but when I found out about this incident I felt it was my responsibility to take care of it. After all this property was put under the protection of the council. Was it not?"

"That's true, but…" said Kugutsu as he got a concerned look on his face.

"Don't worry, if any of them try escape I'll take full responsibility. So why don't you transfer them over to me and I'll make sure that they get to where they belong. If it makes you feel any better this IS an order from the council." said Danzou as his smile took on a slightly more sinister look.

When Kugutsu heard this he simply bowed and said "Understood Danzou-sama, I will transfer them into your custody."

After the transfer was complete Kugutsu and his team disappeared in a puff of smoke. Once the coast was clear Danzou turned to the Ne that was in charge of this operation and said "You disappoint me."

"Forgive me Danzou-sama but we ran into some complications." said the Ne Leader as he bowed his head in shame.

"You failed to locate the secret chamber didn't you?"

The Ne Leader didn't saw anything he merely nodded his head. When Danzou saw this he let out a sigh and said "You now the price for failure."

"Hai, but I have learned something of great importance. Uzumaki Naruto knows how to use the Rasengan!" said the Ne Leader in a desperate attempt to save his life.

Danzou's eye widened slightly before his expression returned to normal and he said "Really? Well this complicates things. I guess I'll have to put that plan into motion after all."

"Plan?" asked the Ne Leader.

Danzou didn't answer he simply nodded to his troops standing behind the captive Ne. When these captives heard the drawing of swords the Ne Leader turned to Danzou and asked "Why Danzou-sama? Surely the information I learned was enough to spare us?"

"True under normal circumstances I would, but…" said a nonchalant Danzou, who then took a sword from one of his troops. He then impaled the Ne Leader before he leaned in and added "… you've become a liability."

As the body fell to the ground Danzou turned around and motioned for his troops to begin. As he headed back to his layer a smile appeared on his face when he heard the scream of the captives as they were cut to pieces. After a few more steps the sounds quieted down and he thought _'Serves them right for failing me. But the information I've learned distresses me. It looks like I'll have to force my hand with Kakashi after all, and I know just what to do to make him agree. Heh, heh, heh…'_

Danzou's smile got even bigger as his laughter could be heard echoing through the corridor.

(Arena Area)

Lee looked on in shock as the sand fall off of Gaara's, cracked and flaking, hand while he raised it and then attacked with the sand that was around him. Lee tried to dodge the attack but with the damage to his muscles and the fractures in his bones he was too slow. The sand quickly encompassed his left arm and leg.

Gaara then clinched his hand into a fist and said "Sabaku Kyuu!!" (Desert Coffin)

Lee screams in pain as the bones in his arm and leg are crushed. Gaara then has his sand go in for the kill. But before the sand could do its job, Gai suddenly appeared between the two and dispersed the sand. Once the sand died down Gai just stood there and glared at Gaara and said "That's enough!"

Just then Naruto, Kushina and Zabuza finally returned to the arena in a swirl of leaves. This caught the attention of many of the spectators, when Sasuke saw this he clinched his fist and thought _'That dobe gets everything handed to him on a silver platter. That power he has should have been taught to ME! I could use that power to finally kill HIM!!'_

Haku however had a completely different reaction; she came up to Naruto and restrained herself from hugging him. She just gave him a nice smile on her face and said "I'm glad to see you're alright Naruto-kun. When the building shook I started to get a little worried."

Naruto got a slight blush on his cheeks and rubbed the back of his head before he gave her his trademark foxy smile and said "Come on Haku-Chan, it's going to take more than that to finish me off, but enough about that. Could you tell me what we've missed?"

"Well…" started Haku as she quickly told him about what's been going on since he left.

When she finished Naruto just looked down at the arena and said "So Gaara can control the sand flawlessly and Lee can open the Gates. It's a shame those two had to fight now, it would have been fun to face both of them in the finals."

Gaara looked at Gai in confusion as he got to his feet and asked "Why? Why are… you helping?"

Gai thought about all the time he spent with Lee before he finally answered "Because… He's my precious protégé!"

Gaara was completely unable to grasp the meaning of those words and he grabbed his head as he felt a sharp pain. After a few moments he recovered and gave Gai a blank stare before his sand transformed back into the gourd and the remaining of it went inside as he said "Forget it."

As Gaara turned to walk away Hayate shouted "THE VICTOR IS GAARA!!"

Just then everyone was shocked to see Lee get back to his feet and get into his fighting stance. As Lee stood there you could hear the popping and cracking of his bones; Naruto looked on in awe as he thought _'Incredible! Even with his left arm and leg injured like that he's still able to stand! Now I really wish he had been my opponent, I'm sure it would have been a great fight.'_

But Naruto's awe soon turned to sorrow when Gai said "Even though you've been knocked senseless, you're still… trying to stay true to you shinobi path. Lee you're already a SPLENDID SHINOBI!"

Gai then pulled Lee into a hug before he gently put him back on the ground. By6 this time Hayate was beside him and took one look at Lee before he shouted "MEDIC! We need a medic here right now!!"

After the medic-nin's had a look at Lee one of the approached Gai and said "I hate to say this but… his injuries are extremely severe. Though he is breathing on his own he has several broken bones and most of his muscles are completely torn. But the worst of it is that the bones in his left leg and arm are especially severe. This kid's body is destroyed… He'll never be able to become a shinobi again."

The moment the medic stopped talking Naruto and Tsunade landed next to Gai. Before ether of them could say anything Gai got down on his knees and begged "Please Tsunade-sama! You've got to help Lee! Please use your great skill to make Lee better!"

"All right enough already! Geez Gai you're as emotional as ever I see. But as for your request…" said Tsunade as she decided to take this opportunity to help advance Naruto's skills. So she turned to Naruto and added "..Why don't we have Naru-Chan here give us his diagnosis?"

Naruto looked at Tsunade for a moment before he shrugged his shoulders and said "Sure Kaasan, but shouldn't you do this so you get a more accurate diagnosis?"

"Oh I'll check after you but I just want to get you're opinion on his injuries first." said Tsunade as a smile appeared on her face.

Naruto just let out a sigh as he said "I figured it was something like that."

He then knelt down next to Lee and put his hand on Lee's chest before he focused some of his chakra to check Lee's condition. Once Naruto finished he turned to Tsunade and said "Kaasan, While the original diagnosis was spot on I don't agree with his conclusion."

"Oh? And why do you say that?" asked a curious Tsunade.

"Well… While his injuries are severe most of them can be healed with the proper jutsu. However… he has several bone fragments in his spine. I don't know how you would go about removing them without causing his death." said Naruto as he got a solemn look on his face.

Tsunade knelt down nest to Naruto and conducted her own check and when she finished she got a serious look on her face as she said "You're right Naru-Chan. Those fragments are a serious problem. I'm the only one who could do the operation to remove them, but it's lengthy and the chance of success if Fifty-fifty at best. If I fail he will DIE."

Naruto stared at Tsunade in shock before he said "No way! There's got to be a way we can increase the odds of success. There's just got to be…"

When Tsunade saw the look in Naruto's eyes as a smile appeared on her face as she thought _'I see Naru-Chan, you can't bear to see other people suffer can you?'_ "Don't worry Naru-Chan, I'll look into the matter. But for now let's let the medic team take Lee to the infirmary."

Naruto nodded his head and both of them returned to the balcony as the Medics took Lee away. Once that was taken care of Sarutobi had all the remaining shinobi stand side by side as he said "Those of you who are going on to the final bouts I just want to say congratulations for making it this far. Now as I said earlier the final bouts will be conducted in front of everyone Each of you will be representing your various villages. So for this reason the finals will be held in one month!"

When Sarutobi saw the confusion on some of the finalists he added "During this Requisite preparation period, you can analyze the intelligence you've gathered and use it to increase your chances of victory. Now before I can let you go there's just one more thing we must do before the finals. Inside the box Anko is carrying are slips of paper we need each of you to take just one."

After Anko went around and once everyone had a slip of paper Sarutobi said "Now that everyone has a slip of paper. Let's start from left to right and read the number on your slip of paper, while Ibiki here writes it down."

Naruto opened his and said "I've got 8."

"Mine's 1." replied Haku.

"3" said NiYal.

Shikamaru looked at his paper before he let out a lazy sigh and said "2"

"4" came Temari's reply.

"6" said an emotionless Gaara.

"5" replied Shino.

"9" said Neji.

Sasuke opened his slip of paper and smirked before he said "Heh, I have7."

"Good, now Ibiki will reveal the matches for the tournament!" said Sarutobi as he got a smile on his face.

Shikamaru got a shocked look on his face as he said "You mean to tell me that was what the drawing was for! Ah man this is such a drag."

Ibiki got a smile on his face and just turned the clipboard around to reveal the matches. It read as follows:

Match 1: **Haku vs. Nara Shikamaru**

Match 2: **Aner NiYal vs. Temari**

Match 3: **Aburame Shino vs. Gaara**

Match 4: **Uzumaki Naruto vs. Hyuuga Neji**

Match 5:**Winner of Match 4 vs. Uchiha Sasuke**

When Naruto saw the matches he turned toward Sautobi and said "Wait a minute! Are you saying that I have to beat not only Neji, but Sasuke-teme in order to make it past the first round?"

"That's correct Naruto-san. It was just your bad luck at the draw." said Ibiki as he kept a straight face.

Naruto let out a sigh and said "Man if I didn't know any better, I'd swear that this match up was fixed."

"Heh, What is the little dobe scared. Maybe you should drop out now so I can fight Neji who is a shinobi of high caliber." mocked Sasuke as he let a half smirk appear on his face.

Naruto turned to look Sasuke in the eyes as he said "And who said I was scared teme? I'm actually looking forward to fulfilling my vow to kick Neji's ass before I teach you that you don't have to be an official shinobi in order to be strong."

"Heh! We'll see about that." replied Sasuke as everyone started to disperse.

Naruto and Haku rejoined Tsunade and the others by the exit when Tsunade looked at the two of them and said "First I want to say that I'm proud of you two for making it so far. But from now on we're going to get serious with your training for the upcoming events. We're going to split the training up, three days out of the week will be spent on individual training. Kushina and I will handle Naru-Chan's while Zabuza and Shizune train Haku-san's. The other four days will be spent on joint training where we will work on teamwork and on anything else that you're having trouble with. So are there any questions?"

Naruto and Haku looked at each other for a moment before Haku shook her head. Naruto turned to Tsunade and said "Not right now Kaasan. But before we begin our training, I want to have a word with Kin. It's time we finally got some answers."

(Infirmary)

A bandage Sakura sat in her bed and listened to all the medical equipment noises as she stared at her hands and thought _'What have I been doing all this time? If this had been a mission I would have…' _

She shook her head to clear those thoughts before she said "No! I won't let that happen! I'm going to have to increase my training and become a better shinobi!"

"Well I'm glad to hear that Sakura."

Sakura immediately turned toward where the voice came form and got a smile on her face as she shouted "Kakashi-sensei! Did both you and Sasuke-kun come to see me?"

Kakashi lowered his head slightly and said "Sorry Sakura, but Sasuke didn't want to come."

"Oh I see…" said Sakura as she lowered her head in sorrow before she turned back towards Kakashi and added "Hey Kakashi-sensei? Once this exam is over do you think you could train me the way Sasuke-kun always wants you to train him?"

Kakashi's one eye turned into a u-shaped smile as he said "Sure thing Sakura. Once you're all better I'll start on your training. But for right now why don't you look over these scrolls and practice the chakra building exercises until I get back, alright?"

Sakura got a smile on her face as she said "Hai! I will Kakashi-sensei… and thank-you."

Kakashi just nodded his head and slowly closed the door to Sakura's room. The moment he turned around he saw Kushina with her back up against the wall. When there's eyes made contact Kushina said "So, you're not a complete hypocrite after all? But don't you think it's a little late to try and change my opinion of you?"

"I'm not doing this for your approval Kushina-san. I've wronged her greatly and I think it's time I made up for it." said Kakashi as he walked past her and headed toward the exit.

Kushina just watched Kakashi leave before she said "We'll see Kakashi, we'll see."

When Kakashi stepped outside he immediately stiffened and his visible eye hardened as he gazed at the person before him. When the man moved closer Kakashi snarled "Danzou."

Danzou put on a fake smile as he said "Ah Kakashi… just the person I was looking for."

"And to what do I owe the pleasure of your visit Danzou." snapped Kakashi as he eye remained fixed on Danzou.

Danzou's fake smile never left his face as he said "What's with the harsh words Kakashi? I just came by in hopes of discussing the young Uchiha's training schedule that's all."

Kakashi quirked an eyebrow at this as he asked "Why are you so curious? What I decide to train Sasuke in is my business and no one else's."

"Very true, but would it hurt you to give this old man a sneak peek at what to expect during the finals?" asked Danzou in a very polite tone.

"You didn't answer my question. Why are you so curious? I doubt that it's just out of curiosity. What are you after?" asked Kakashi as he eyed Danzou suspiciously and looked for any signs that might give him a clue as to what Danzou was really after.

"After? Why I'm after nothing at all. I just wanted to see what the young Uchiha would impress us with at the exams, that's all. Can an old man be curious about such things?" asked Danzou as he kept his fake smile on but was seething on the inside. _'Damn you Kakashi! Just tell me if you plan to teach Sasuke The Chidori or not! That way I'll now if I have to pull out my trump card.'_

Kakashi didn't believe a word of it, so he crossed his arms and tilted his head back a little as he said "RIGHT. Like I'm going to believe that. Now why don't you tell me what you're really after? Otherwise I'm ending this conversation, I am a busy man, what with having to prepare Sasuke for the finals and all."

Danzou's fake smile darkened as his expresion turned to a serious one as he said "Very well, we'll dispense with the pleasantries. Tell me, are you going to teach the young Uchiha your prized technique of not?"

Kakashi decided to play dumb and asked "Prized technique? Whatever could you mean? I have mastered over a thousand jutsu's after all."

"Don't play games with me Kakashi! You know damn well what jutsu I'm talking about! Are you going to teach him the Chidori or not?" shouted Danzou as he glared at Kakashi and shoved his finger into Kakashi's chest.

Kakashi got a serious look on his face as he removed Danzou's finger from his chest and said "I'd advise against doing that again Danzou. Otherwise I might consider that an attack on my person and defend myself accordingly. Now to answer your question, no I will not teach Sasuke the Chidori. He's not ready for such a technique."

Danzou's eye widened in shock as he snapped back "Not ready?! He was the top of his class at the academy, a certifiable genius! How can he not be ready for such a technique?!"

"He's to hell bent on revenge and is unable to control his emotions around certain people. These qualities make it too dangerous to teach him Chidori. He may use it in a fit of anger and take someone's life. For this reason I will not teach him that technique." said Kakashi as he looked up at the shy and thought _'If only he could control his emotions better then maybe but in his current state it's just too dangerous. I'm sorry Obito.'_

'_But that's exactly what I'm counting on Kakashi.'_ thought Danzou as he glared at him for a few moment before he said "Then I guess you leave me no choice."

"Eh?" muttered Kakashi as he turned his full attention back to Danzou to see that a smirk had appeared on his face.

"If and only IF you teach Sasuke how to use the Chidori, than I am willing to change the status of your father." said Danzou as his smirk got bigger as he saw Kakashi's expression. _'Got'cha'_

Kakashi just stood there for a few moment in disbelief before he finally said "You're bluffing. Not even you have the power to do that Danzou. It would have to be the council's decision not yours."

"Very true, but I do have a great deal of influence among the council and could persuade them to change his status. Think about it Kakashi, the name of Hatake Sakumo would no longer be dragged in the mud and he would be recognized as the hero he really was." said Danzou as his fake smile returned.

Kakashi thought about this for a long time before he said "And why you would do this? What could you possible gain out of this?"

"I just want to make sure that Konoha is seen in a good light during the finals. If we are seen as strong then we'll receive more missions and the village will prosper." said Danzou but his thought's were along a completely different line. _'If Sasuke learns the Chidori then there's a good chance that he will be pushed too far and kill your brat with it Yondaime. Oh I can see the irony now, The great Yondaime's son done in by the jutsu of one of your former students. Heh, heh, heh.'_

Kakashi stood rooted to his spot as he said "But…"

"Now, now no need to decide right this minute. We have plenty of time after all, but I will only hold up my end of the bargain if I see Sasuke use the jutsu during the finals. So I hope you make the right decision Kakashi." said Danzou as he turned and left the copy nin with much to think about.

After Danzou was gone Kakashi just stood there for a long time before he looked up at the sky and thought _'Father what should I do? If I teach Sasuke my jutsu you'll no longer be seen as a traitor, but the hero you really are. However I don't believe he's ready for it. What should I do? What should I do?!'_

Next Chapter: Kin's Past and Orochimaru's plans.

--

Authors Note2: Well I'll start with Kin's path leading to joining Kumori in the next chapter as well as Orochimaru's meeting with Danzou. So I hope to see you all for the next update.


	25. Chapter 25: Kin's Past

-1

"Speech"

'_Thoughts'_

**Demon/Summon/inner Sakura speech**

_**Demon/Summon thoughts**_

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or any of the characters created by Kishimoto, but all OC's are my own creation.

Narutomaniac: You're right Danzou recruits them when they are Chunin but that doesn't stop them from training in secret to improve their skills. They just keep those skills hidden and don't try to advance further in rank.

Shika Kev Prower: I was going to do have Sasuke be number 9 but after I reviewed the manga I noticed that this was the way they did it for Shikamaru and Dosu fight.

BrownPaperBag51: Sakura will not get training from Tsunade, but I do plan to have her trained and have her skills increased but she won't be a medic like in the manga.

Kereea: No it's not a secret but yes Orochimaru will be disguised as the Kazekage.

buzzbumble: Sorry Orochimaru won't kill Danzou.

Eyes of Truth: I will explain it a little but not go into too much detail.

Jangle: Tsunade gave Naruto that nickname when he was a little boy, (I believe even small boys are called 'Chan') she just shortened his name and added Chan. Also Tsunade is the only one he allows to call him that, anyone else will experience some form of pain.

Author's notes: Well it's sure been awhile since I updated huh? Sorry about that by the way. As I said before a little of Kin's past will be covered here, also the identity of one of the Kage Ga-Do will be revealed in the Chapter.

Now on with the story

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Chapter 25: Kin's Past and Orochimaru's Plan

In The Forest of Death just outside of the Tower, about fifty yards behind the tree line, Orochimaru had his back against the trunk of a tree as he gazed at the Tower. Just then a figure landed behind him. As the figure got down on one knee Orochimaru asked "So, did you find their bodies?"

The figure raised his head and revealed himself to be Kabuto, he then looked at Orochimaru and said "Hai I was able to locate the bodies of both Dosu Kinuta and Zaku Abumi. However I was unable to locate Kin Tsuchi's body."

"I see…" said Orochimaru as he started off into the distance.

"But I have heard a rumor that she was captured shortly after Uzumaki Naruto knocked out Uchiha Sasuke during the second part of the exam. So it's possible that she's in the hands of the Konoha's interrogation teams." said Kabuto as he stood up and awaited Orochimaru's reaction.

Orochimaru started to chuckle before he said "Oh how simple marvelous! This is so much more entertaining than I had originally planned. But I can't just have one of my pawns running around doing whatever they feel like. She'll have to be dealt with."

Kabuto got a smile on his face as he said "Don't worry Orochimaru-sama. I'll handle it personally."

"I think not, if my guess is right… then you'll be no match for the one who has her. I'll handle this myself. Send for them immediately." said Orochimaru as he continued to gaze at the Tower.

"Orochimaru-sama, don't you think that's a bit premature? This is only Kin we are talking about here. If we have such a large group in the village, won't that endanger the plan?"

Orochimaru turned his gaze towards Kabuto before he hissed "It wasn't a request, I still have a use for that girl. So send for my Oto four now!"

(Roof of the Hospital)

Kushina opened the wooden door and stepped out onto the roof. As the creaking door closed she looked around and saw all the white sheets hanging on all the laundry lines. That's when her eyes suddenly caught movement behind one of the sheets. A small smile appeared on her face as she said "So what do you have to report?"

"As you suspected, Danzou intercepted the prisoners before they could be turned over for interrogation." said Raven as she stepped out from in-between the white sheets.

"I see, and what became of the prisoners?" asked Kushina as brought her hand up to her chin in a thinking posture.

Raven fixed her gaze on Kushina and she simply replied "They were all executed."

Kushina's gaze hardened as she looked down at the concrete floor and said "Damn! That complicates things. Maybe I should have put up more of a fight like Naruto-kun wanted to do after all."

"Kushina-sama there's something else that needs to be brought to your attention." said Raven as her voice tensed up a little and her body position shifted slightly.

Kushina caught the slight change in Ravens tone and shifted her gaze from the floor to Raven's face before she asked "What is it?"

Raven's voice remained tense and she lowered her head slightly as she said "After the execution I followed Danzou. When he got back to the village he made a beeline straight to the hospital. He then waited outside until Kakashi came out. After a brief conversation Danzou offered to change Hatake Sakumo status, in exchange for teaching Sasuke the Chidori. And to make matters worse Kakashi might actually accept the offer."

Kushina's eyes widened slightly at the news. Her expression then turned to a sorrowful one as she lowered her own head and fixed her gaze to an area off to her lower right while she sighed "I can't say that I'm all that surprised. After all his father always was a touchy subject when he was younger."

After a few moments of silence Raven lifted her head and looked at Kushina before she said "Kushina-sama, let me deal with Kakashi."

Kushina looked at Raven and with a hint of worry in her voice she said "Are you sure? I mean the last time you two met face to face…"

"I know, but that was a long time ago. Trust me Kushina-sama, I can do this… I have to do this for their sakes." pleaded Raven as she turned to look at the Hokage Monument.

When Kushina saw where Raven was looking she remained silent for a few moments as she contemplated Raven's request. She then looked Raven in the eyes and nodded her head in approval as she said "Alright, I'll leave Kakashi to you. So while you're dealing with him I'll go and have a little chat with the old man about what's going on behind his back."

(Several Hours Later In a Corridor Leading to the Holding Cells)

The sun was setting and an orange hue was cast upon the village as Naruto and Haku walked down the cold and dank corridor that lead to the holding cells. As one of the light's flickered and a rat scurried across the floor, Haku looked over at Naruto and asked "Naruto-kun are you sure it was such a good idea to leave Wolf in charge of all those Kage Bunshins that are cleaning out the scroll room?"

"Yeah, I've got a feeling that she won't betray us." said Naruto as they continued down the barely light corridor.

"You trust her that much, do you?" asked Haku with a bit of jealousy in her voice before she kicked a pebble across the floor.

Naruto came to a stop when he heard the tone in her voice. He then turned to face Haku and he said "Well… not to the extent that I trust you or Kaasan, but yes I think she can be trusted."

Haku blushed slightly before she tilted her head in curiosity and asked "But how can you be so sure?"

"I can't explain it, but I feel like I've met her somewhere before. I don't know where or when we met, but I've just got this gut feeling that we can trust her." said Naruto as he looked Haku square in the eyes.

When Haku looked into his eyes she could tell that he was sincere and believed what he said. So Haku got a smile on her face and said "If you believe she can be trusted than that's good enough for me. So let's leave it at that and go and find out what Kin knows."

"Sure thing Haku-Chan." said Naruto as he nodded his head before both of them headed toward the holding cells.

A short time later Naruto and Haku arrived at the holding cell area and saw Hawk standing guard in front of one of the metal doors. When they approached the room Hawk was guarding Naruto said "We've come to talk to Kin."

"Be my guest Naruto-sama, until Wolf gets back I really can't do anything anyway." grumbled Hawk which showed his frustration at his inability to move the interrogation forward. So he pulled out a key and opened the cell door.

Kin lifted her head when she heard the creak of the heavy steel door. Her eyes widened slightly when she saw Naruto and Haku walk through the door but soon put on her tough face and said "So, the person that captured me has decided to pay me a visit huh? To what do I owe the pleasure?"

Naruto looked at Kin, who was still seated on a plain and simple bed, he then held her gaze for a seconds before he said "What's with the tough-guy act? It's not like it's really going to make much difference anyway."

"I don't know what you're talking about?" muttered Kin as she turned her head to the side in order to avoid Naruto's gaze.

Naruto got a smile on his face as he said "I can see it in your eyes. That tough persona you use is just there to hide the pain and fear you've lived with everyday of your life."

Kin glared at Naruto when he said this, and before she realized what she was doing she jumped off the bed and grabbed him by his coat and snapped "Don't you DARE talk to me like you have any idea what I've been through!"

Naruto's smile softened as he met Kin's hard glaze. He then gently removed her hands from his coat as he said "You're right, I don't know what you've been through. But pain and fear are still the same no matter what the circumstances are, and that's what shows in your eyes. For they say the eyes are the windows into the soul."

When Kin saw the look in Naruto's eyes she was shocked for they reflected all the pain and suffering he endured before he encountered Tsunade and the others. Kin took a couple of steps back and sat back down on the bed as she lowered her head and then whispered "Those eyes, they remind me of when I look into the mirror."

After Naruto dusted himself off, he looked down at Kin and said "Now are you ready to talk, because with all the people after me I really don't have time for games."

Kin just kept her head lowered as she said "Go ahead, ask whatever you want."

Naruto just gave her a quick nod as he said "Alright, why don't you start with why that snake freak wanted me dead in Tanzuku Town."

(Just outside the Cell)

Hawk yawned and stretched his muscles as he stood guard. Just then he caught movement out of the corner of his eye. As he pulled out a kunai and looked in the direction of the movement and said "Show yourself!!"

"So… you were able to sense me after all, I'm impressed." said Kabuto as he walked out of the shadows and into the open. He then used his middle finger to shove his glasses back up on his face before his lips curled into a smirk.

Hawk narrowed his eyes and brought his kunai up in a defensive position as he said "Kabuto. Once I capture you, we'll be able to get all the information we need."

"You'll have to catch me first." said Kabuto as he threw a couple of Kunai at Hawk before he jumped out the nearest window.

Hawk ran over to the window and watched Kabuto fall before he thought _'On the run already eh? Well you won't get far.'_

He then turned to the cell door and yelled "Naruto-sama! Keep an eye on the prisoner for me will you! I'm going after that Oto spy Kabuto!!"

(Inside the Cell)

Kin's eyes widened in fear when she heard the commotion outside and thought _'Kabuto?! Then he's already coming after me!'_

Meanwhile Naruto turned his head toward the cell door and shouted "Kabuto?! WAIT! He wouldn't just run away!"

But just as Naruto was about to reach the door it was suddenly blown off its hinges and came flying at him. Naruto, Haku and Kin managed to dodge the projectile as it swished by and slammed into the brick wall behind them. As Naruto came out of his roll and got to his feet he looked over at the area where the door use to be and saw a large man with red Mohawk like hair walk into the room followed by three others, a redheaded girl, a man with six arms and another man with silver/white hair.

"Damn the security at this village sucks! Now I realize that it was a miracle that I made it to my fifth birthday before they nearly got me!" snapped Naruto as he narrowed his eyes at the Oto headbands, he then got into his fighting stance and added "If you think that you're going to get Kin without a fight, think again!"

"Oh this is just too entertaining. Who would have thought that you, of all people would be in here questioning Kin." said Orochimaru as he walked through the doorway.

'_Shit this is bad! With the snake freak here, there's no way me and Haku-Chan can fight all of these bastards and protect Kin at the same time!'_ thought Naruto as he looked over the group who were between them and the only exit in the room.

Orochimaru got a snake like smile on his face as he said "But I'm feeling generous today. So hand over my test subject and I'll let you go."

"Test subject?" asked Naruto as he eyed Orochimaru carefully.

"Oh? She hasn't told you? She's one of my experiments, so give her back and I'll spare your lives." said Orochimaru as he tilted his head to the side.

Haku looked over at Kin and asked "Kin? What is he talking about?"

Kin just lowered her head and remained quite. When Orochimaru saw he couldn't help but laugh and once he calmed down he said "Ku, ku, ku, ku! I won't give her a chance to tell you. The deals off, now get them!"

"I don't think so!" shouted Naruto as he pulled out a smoke bomb and threw it to the ground. Once the glass coating shattered on the concrete floor smoke filled the room, Naruto grabbed Kin and put her on his back as he said "Haku-Chan we're getting out of here."

When Kin was grabbed she looked at the back of Naruto's head and shouted "Hey! I'm not a piece of luggage you know!" That's when his words sunk in and she asked "Getting out of here?! How do you plan on doing that when they are blocking the only exit out of this room?"

"Simple, LIKE THIS!!" said Naruto as he used his great strength and punched a hole in the old brick wall.

As the bricks and other pieces of debris went flying, Naruto and Haku jumped out of the hole and landed on one of the nearby tiled rooftops. Naruto made a simple motion for Haku to follow him and then took off towards the Hokage Tower.

Orochimaru walked up to the hole and watched the two run along the rooftops. He then let a smile appear on his face as he said "It looks like our prey is on the run. I do hope they can give us some amusement. After them! Make sure they don't get close to the Tower!"

Orochimaru's four companions bowed their heads and then took off after Naruto and the others.

After they were several feet away Haku looked over at Naruto and asked "Naruto-kun, do you think we'll make it to the Tower before they catch up?"

"Can't say, but I do know that we'd never be able to take them on and keep Kin safe at the same time! It would have been bad enough if it was just the snake freak! But he brought those four shinobi with him and to make matters worse we don't know a thing about them." said Naruto as he picked up his pace a little.

Kin looked over Naruto's shoulder so she could see his face as she said "You face an unknown enemy for the first time and you decide to run away? What kind of shinobi are you?"

Naruto shifted his gaze slightly so that Kin was in his vision before he said "Now look here! Our top priority is to make sure they don't get you! And in that location not only were we outnumbered but we were in a confined space the best course of action was to flee."

Before Kin could say anything Naruto and Haku skidded to a halt, which caused several of the roof tiles to dislodge, as two figures landed in front of them. When Naruto got a good look at them his eyes widened in shock, for he recognized them immediately as Uchiha Itachi and Hoshigaki Kisame.

A few moments later Orochimaru and the Oto four landed on the roof behind them. Naruto shifted his gaze from Itachi to Orochimaru and then back to Itachi before he sighed, "Ah shit."

(Meanwhile at the Hokage Tower)

Kushina walked through the main lobby of the tower and noticed that there weren't that many people here at such a late hour. As she made her way up the old creaking wooden steps she reflected on what she has learned _'Danzou is getting more brazen if he took those prisoners from that Jounin like that. I'm going to have to put my shinobi on full alert from this point out. Heh, It's a good thing that Shadow was released from the hospital right after the prelims were over, I'm going to need his info gathering abilities now more than ever.'_

When Kushina finally reached the doors leading to the Hokage's office a Chunin suddenly appeared in front of her and said "I'm sorry but Hokage-sama is in a meeting right now and not taking any visitors."

Kushina grabbed the Chunin by his vest and pulled him toward her until they were face to face. She then got a serious look on her face before she said "If you don't get out of my way right now… you're going to be the one who's sorry. GOT IT?!"

The Chunin gulped and then meekly nodded his head, when he felt the K.I. that Kushina put out, and once released he scurried out of her way. Kushina then got a smirk on her face and as she walked past him she said "Good boy."

"Old man we need to talk!" said Kushina as she opened the double doors that lead to Sarutobi's office, only to discover that the meeting was with Tsunade, Anko and Shizune. Kushina got a confused look on her face and asked "Ok… What's going on?"

Sarutobi got up from his seat behind his desk and as he walked around it he said "Perfect timing Kushina. Tsunade and Anko are here to discuss the transference of the Namikaze Clan's assets from my custody to Naruto's."

"Then how come Naruto-kun isn't here?" asked Kushina as she scanned the room and found no trace of Naruto.

Tsunade leaned forward in her chair and looked up at Kushina as she said "Naru-Chan wanted to question Kin as soon as possible. So he asked us to take care of this while he and Haku-san headed over to the Holding Cells."

Kushina looked at Tsunade for a moment before she said "He asked you Tsunade-sama? Don't take this the wrong way, but why would he trust you to handle his money? You are notorious for your gambling problem after all."

Tsunade huffed and crossed her arms over her chest as she mumbled "I never gamble with my son's money… at least, not without his say so."

After everyone had a quick laugh Sarutobi sat back down in his chair, behind his desk, before he looked at both Tsunade and Anko as he said "Back to the matter at hand, as per Naruto's request half of the money will be transferred to Anko's account and the other half will be to a bank of his choosing."

Anko got a small glint in her eye when she heard this; she then rubbed her hands together and said "Now I'll never have to worry about running out of dango."

Before anyone could say anything else Kushina walked up to Sarutobi's desk and slammed her hands on the hard oak desk before she said "That will have to wait for now! I have something important to talk to you about!"

"And what would that be Kushina?" asked Sarutobi as he shifted his gaze to meet Kushina's before he picked up his pipe and put it to his mouth.

"I've just learned of what happened to those prisoners we captured in the vault." said Kushina as she took her hands off of the desk and hardened her gaze.

Sarutobi let out a heavy sigh and said "No need to tell me about that. I've already received a report from both Kugutsu and the Interrogation Squad. Both reported that the prisoners were transferred to Danzou who then reported that the prisoners were killed while attempting to escape."

"BULLSHIT!! I happen to know that those prisoners weren't killed while attempting to escape. They were EXECUTED!!" shouted Kushina as she clinched her fists in aggravation.

Sarutobi took a puff from his pipe as he said "I figured as much. Kugutsu asked me about it when he delivered his report but dropped it when he read the official report presented by Danzou. I'm afraid that Kugutsu is just far too trusting."

While all of this was going on Shizune noticed that Tsunade had a far off look on her face, it was as if she wasn't really paying attention. Shizune leaned down so that she was right next to Tsunade's ear and whispered "Tsunade-sama is something wrong? You seem a bit out of it right now."

"Remember when I had that uneasy feeling right before we confronted Orochimaru in Tanzuku Town?" whispered Tsunade as she shifted her gaze to meet Shizune.

Shizune nodded her head as she remembered the event before she replied "Hai, it wasn't too long after that, that we had to heal Naruto-kun and Haku-Chan's injuries from their fight with Kabuto. But why did you ask that Tsunade-sama?"

Tsunade turned her gaze to the open window beside the Hokage's desk and as she gazed out at the Hokage Monument she said "Because… I'm getting that same feeling right now."

Just then Jiraiya appeared and perched himself on the windowsill, before he, in a serious tone of voice, said "We have a problem."

(Back with Naruto)

Haku moved closer to Naruto as Kin got off of his back. Once Haku was almost back to back with him she whispered "Naruto-kun, PLEASE tell me you have a plan for getting us out of this mess."

"I'm working on it! I'm working on it!!" replied Naruto as he continued to shift his gaze between Itachi and Orochimaru.

Orochimaru glared at Itachi and gritted his teeth before he said "Itachi! What are you doing here?!"

Itachi looked at Orochimaru with an impartial expression on his face as he said "Naruto-kun is the Akatsuki's prize."

Orochimaru got a snake like smile on his face and pointed at Kin as he said "Well then he's all yours. All I want is the girl behind him."

"But if we eliminate you now. We can hunt him down at our leisure." said Itachi.

Kisame finally ran out of patience and pulled out his sword as he said "Enough of this! The others don't interest me; I just want to deal with that traitorous snake."

When Naruto saw that the two sides were arguing with each other he sighed in relief before he turned his head slightly so that Haku was in his line of view. He then motioned his head to the left to silently signal her to take Kin and jump to the adjacent roof before he jerked his right wrist which caused a kunai, with two explosive tags attached, to shoot out of his sleeve and land right into his hand; he then threw it so that it would land just a few inches from his feet.

The moment the kunai hit the ground the tags started to burn. This delay allowed Naruto to jump out of the way just as the tags went off and created a huge explosion.

(Hokage's Office)

Tsunade's eyes widened in fear as Jiraiya turned around and looked at the explosion before he said "Shit! He's already after her!"

Just then a gust of wind blew past him as Tsunade jumped out of the window at amazing speed; she was shortly followed by Anko and Shizune. Kushina ran up to the window and saw the three run along the rooftops towards the explosion before she asked "What's going on?!"

"Orochimaru is after that Oto shinobi that you guys captured during the chunin exams." said Jiraiya as he continued to look in the direction of the explosion.

Kushina didn't wait for Jiraiya to say anything else before she jumped out the window and moved at her top speed in the direction of the explosion. As she jumped from rooftop to rooftop she thought _'Damn it! I should have known that it involved Naruto-kun the moment that Tsunade-sama jumped out of the window! Just hold on Naruto-kun, I won't let that snake hurt you!!'_

By the time Kushina jumped out of the window an ANBU entered the office just in time for Sarutobi to issue his orders "I want all available ANBU to converge on that explosion NOW! Tell them they are to use extreme caution and delay the intruder until my arrival."

"You're arrival? But Hokage-sama just who are we after that would require your attention." asked the ANBU.

As Sarutobi turned to follow Jiraiya he made eye contact with the ANBU and in a serious tone of voice said "Orochimaru."

(Back with Naruto)

Naruto, Haku, and Kin landed on an adjacent rooftop. Naruto then turned to make sure no one was after them when Haku asked "Naruto-kun, did you really need to make the explosion THAT big?"

"Well at least it can be seen." said Naruto as he shrugged his shoulders and looked at the fire that was created as a result of the explosion.

Haku shook her head before she looked at Naruto and said "Yes, but the same effect could have been used with just one explosive tag Naruto-kun. Instead you decided to attach another one to the kunai for a bigger explosion."

"We'll this way it will definitely be noticed. Besides it's always more fun when you make the explosions a little bigger." said Naruto as he scanned the smoke filled area for any signs of advancing shinobi.

Haku shook her head again and sighed "You've been hanging around Anko-san too long."

Naruto got a sheepish look on his face and after a few moments composed himself and said "We'd better get out of here before they find…"

Before Naruto could finish his sentence Orochimaru and the Oto four landed on the tiled rooftop in front of the group. Orochimaru got a smile on his face as he said "That was very naughty Naruto-_Kun_, you've cut into my play time. Now I'm going to have to take care of this quickly."

Just then Itachi and Kisame came out of the smoke and landed between the two groups. Kisame then turned to Itachi and said "Damn that brat made it harder for us. But I still call dibs on the traitorous snake, alright Itachi?"

Itachi merely closed his eyes and replied "Do whatever you wish. Just remember that we have limited time now."

Kisame let his lips curl into a shark like grin as he looked over at Orochimaru before he said "Sure thing Itachi, this won't take me long anyway."

"Why do you still oppose me? I already told you, that you could have the Kyuubi brat!" hissed Orochimaru as he glared at Itachi and Kisame while the Oto four moved between Kisame and Orochimaru.

Itachi's face remained expressionless as he opened his eyes and said "I already told you. With you out of the way we can go after Naruto-kun at our leisure."

Orochimaru narrowed his eyes at the two Akasuki members, when he suddenly felt the approach of several powerful chakra signatures. He let a scowl cross his face as he jumped down to the disserted street below before he said "It appears we're out of time."

As Orochimaru started to sink into the ground he looked at Naruto and said "I'm going to make you pay for this you Kyuubi brat!! The next time we meet I'll show you what it truly means to go up against one of the Sannin."

When the man with six arms heard this, he got a shocked look on his face and said "But Orochimaru-sama, what about the girl?"

"Forget about her, she was only going to be dissected anyways." said Orochimaru just before his head completely disappeared underneath the ground. The Oto four quickly followed Orochimaru by doing some hand-seals and then they all disappeared in a puff of smoke.

Once Orochimaru was gone Kisame turned his attention to Naruto when he was stopped by Itachi who said "Forget about him for know. We have to get going; we have more important business to take care of."

"But Itachi! Why can't we at least grab the Kyuubi brat while we have the chance?" asked Kisame as he put his sword on his back.

Itachi turned to face Kisame before he said "Can't you feel their approach? We'd never be able to subdue Naruto-kun before the arrival of the other two Sannin, the Hokage, The leader of Kumori, and several squads of ANBU."

"Humph, you got a point there." said Kisame before he turned back to face Naruto and added "I guess you got lucky today you Kyuubi brat, but your luck won't last forever."

Naruto breathed a sigh of relief when he saw Itachi and Kisame take of in the direction of the south gate. He then looked at Haku and said "Things were tense there for a minute huh Haku-Chan?"

"That's an understatement Naruto-kun. For a minute there I didn't think we would make it." sighed a relieved Haku as she stared in the direction of the south gate.

Naruto shook his head at this comment before he turned to look at Kin and said "Now before Kaasan and the others get here. Why don't you tell us why the snake freak was so desperate to get you back, only to dissect you?"

Kin realized that there was no other way around it so she lowered her head and mumbled "Because I'm a genetic freak…"

"Genetic… freak?" asked Naruto as he tilted his head in a curious manner as the roof continued to burn behind them.

Kin let out a sigh and said "I guess I'll have to start at the beginning…"

(Flashback)

A seven year old Kin ran through the dusty streets of her hometown when she ducked down an alleyway and hid inside of an old rusty trash can. That's when the man who was chasing her ran into the alley. After he did a quick scan of the alley he shout "Where the hell did that little thief go?! When I get my hands on her...!"

Kin lifted the rusty lid and saw that the man had given up. She let out a sigh of relief before she stepped out of the trash can. She then pulled out a dirty and torn picture and as she looked at the faded picture she snapped "I hate this! If you hadn't been killed, this never would have happened. Damn that shinobi for what he did!!"

The moment she started to head out of the alley and toward the main street she heard someone say "You poor child I see life hasn't dealt you a fair hand."

Kin immediately turned toward the voice and saw Orochimaru who came out of the wall. She got a scared look on her face and backed away from Orochimaru as she said "G-Genejustu…t-that means, y-you're a shinobi! I won't let you kill me the same way my parents were!!"

Orochimaru got a smile on his face as he saw Kin dart back down the alley before he used his superior speed to get in front of her. As Kin skidded to a halt Orochimaru put his hand to her cheek and said "Now, now I'm not going to hurt you child. I saw how that man tried to hurt you earlier just for taking some food so you could survive. I too know what it means to be concerned with only survival.

Kin blushed slightly at the close contact before she suddenly found the rocks on the ground very interesting as she meekly said "Y-you do?"

"That's right child and the way you escaped from that man gives me an idea." said Orochimaru as he removed his hand from Kin's cheek.

Kin looked up at Orochimaru with confusion written all over her face as she asked "What do you mean?"

Orochimaru looked down at Kin with his yellow snake like eyes and let a smile cross his face as he said "I see potential in you; you could become a very powerful shinobi. I could train you so you can get revenge on the shinobi that ruined your life. Think about it, I'll make you so powerful that they won't even know what's coming So what do you say child?"

Kin thought about it for a few minute before she got a serious look on her face and said "Ok, I'll do it."

(End Flashback)

"Wait a minute! So aside for the snake freak giving you a little kindness, you joined up with him to get revenge?" said Naruto as he brought his hands together to form a T.

Kin slowly nodded her head as a sad look crossed her face and she said "Yeah, at first I thought I found someone who acknowledged me and didn't want to use me like others had done before. But… that notion soon changed."

Haku got a sad expression on her face as she realized that they had something in common. Haku then remembered why Kin was telling them all of this and asked "But what does this have to do with you being a genetic freak?"

Kin closed her eyes and took a deep breath before she said "I'm getting to that…"

But before Kin could continue Tsunade, Anko and Shizune arrived. Tsunade immediately went straight to Naruto and checked him over to make sure he was alright. Once she finished her check she let out a sigh of relief and looked Naruto square in the eyes before she said "What the hell happened?! Who tried to hurt you? Was anyone else hurt? Where did they run off to?"

Naruto let out a sigh of frustration and shook his head before he said "Whoa, whoa, whoa just calm down Kaasan, everyone's fine. And to answer you're other questions: We were attacked by Orochimaru, who was after Kin here. Then while we tried to escape Itachi and Kisame showed up."

"Itachi?! Where the hell is he?!" shouted Kushina as she landed next to the group and then scanned the area but saw no sign of him, she only saw the people who were trying to put the roof fire out. The moment she finished her scan Jiraiya, Sarutobi and several squads of ANBU showed up.

Before anyone could say anything else Sarutobi quickly surveyed the area and then looked at Naruto before he asked "Which direction did Orochimaru escape too?"

"The snake freak sank into the ground while his henchmen used a jutsu to escape. As for Itachi and Kisame, they headed off towards the South Gate." said Naruto as he pointed in the direction of the South Gate.

Sarutobi's eyes widened at this information and quickly turned to his ANBU squadrons and shouted "Head to the South Gate Immediately!! Use whatever method necessary to capture Itachi and his companion! Understood?!"

The ANBU squadrons bowed theirs heads and then shot off along the rooftops toward the South Gate. Once they were out of sight Hawk landed in front of Naruto, then got down on one knee and said "Forgive me Naruto-sama I should have realized what was going on from the start."

"Where the hell were you Hawk?! I thought I ordered you to guard the prisoner!!" interrupted Kushina as she gave Hawk a harsh glare, while he got to his feet.

Hawk lowered his head in shame and replied "My apologies Kushina-sama, but Kabuto made an appearance and I thought it was best to leave Kin in Naruto-sama's care while I hunted down that spy. When I saw the explosion I realized what happened and immediately broke off pursuit to come back here. If I hadn't been so foolish, I would have realized what his true intentions were and remained where I was. I promise to be more cautious in the future."

Kushina rubbed the bridge of her nose and looked Hawk directly in the eyes before she let out a sigh and said "DON'T let it happen again."

The look in Kushina's eyes told Hawk everything he needed to know. So he lowered his head again and replied "Understood, and I won't fail you again Kushina-sama."

It was at this point that Naruto spoke up "Look we're getting off track here!"

Once he said this Naruto turned to face Kin and said "Now could you please continue where you left off."

Kin looked around franticly before she turned to Naruto and said "But…"

"It's ok Kin-san, no one here will judge you based on what that man did to you." said Haku with a reassuring smile.

"How do YOU know, that they won't judge me?" replied a defensive Kin as she pointed at Haku to emphasize her point.

Naruto got between Haku and Kin, and gently lowered Kin's hand as he calmly said "Trust me, I speak from personal experience when I say: these people won't judge you for something you had no control over."

"What do you mean, personal experience?" asked Kin as she got a curious look on her face, and soon her curiosity increased ten fold when she caught a brief look of sadness in Naruto's expression before it returned to normal.

After a few moments of silence Kin let out a sigh and said "Fine, fine I tell them as well… Now where was I…?"

"You had just told us how you meet Orochimaru." said Haku as she moved to stand next to Naruto.

Kin nodded her head in agreement before she said "Oh that's right, well to continue…"

(Flashback)

As Kin followed Orochimaru down a dimly light corridor, she looked around and noticed that the walls were made out of some sort of dark metal, but it was too dark to tell for sure. Kin's attention was immediately brought to Orochimaru when he stopped in front of a large metal double door, lined with black and yellow strips. She looked up at Orochimaru and asked "What's behind the doors Orochimaru-sama?"

Orochimaru got a snake like smile on his face and replied "You'll see soon enough child."

When the door opened Kin had to shield her eyes from the bright lights behind the door. Once Kin's eyes adjusted to the light she looked inside and saw a room filled with scientific equipment as well as test tubes and beakers. On the far left side of the room was a line of glass tubes, that were big enough to fit a grown man, and they were also filled with a strange liquid.

Suddenly a man wearing a white lab coat walked up to the pair before he looked down at Kin while he asked "Is this the new test subject Orochimaru-sama?"

"Indeed she is, and I'm expecting better results this time around. Understood?" said Orochimaru as he leered at the man.

The scientist backed away and stuttered "H-Hai Orochimaru-sama."

Kin, who had remained quite during their conversation, got a curious look on her face as she looked up at Orochimaru and asked "Test subject? What's going on? I thought you were going to train me in the same shinobi arts as the one who killed my parents."

Orochimaru looked down at Kin and got a menacing smile on his face as he said "And you will get your revenge my dear, but first I plan to make some changes… Ku, Ku, Ku!"

"Wha…" Kin started to say when she suddenly felt very sleepy and then collapsed to the cold floor in a deep sleep.

Kin slowly opened her eyes as consciousness returned to her. The first thing she realized was that she was completely submerged in the strange liquid she noticed in the glass tubes earlier. But before she could gain her bearings she heard someone say "Oh you're already awake? I see Orochimaru-sama's evaluation is as accurate as always."

When the man saw the confused look on her face he chuckled a little before he looked directly into the floating Kin's eyes and said "You're wondering what I'm talking about aren't you? Well you were put under a very powerful genjutsu a little while ago and your body has already recovered from it. So this makes you a perfect candidate for my experiment. You know, it's really too bad that you woke up."

Kin wondered what he meant by that when she suddenly felt an unbearable pain shot through her body, it was as if her very blood was on fire. As she screamed in pain the Man looked up at her and said "Now you'll experience the full pain of as my genetic modifications take hold… Oh well, this will be a good opportunity to see what kind of pain threshold you have."

The moment the man finished talking Kin saw him turn a dial and hit a few buttons before she felt the pain going through her body increase ten fold. Kin felt like her blood was boiling and once the pain became too great she let out an agonizing scream which nearly caused her breathing mask to dislodge.

Over the course of the next several hours Kin writhed in agony while the scientist continued to monitor the genetic manipulation process. When the process was finally complete Kin's body relaxed and her eyes closed, that's when the scientist looked at the latest readout. His eyes widened in amazement at the results and he said "This is amazing! I wonder if her being conscious has anything to do with this?"

"Good news I take it." said Orochimaru as he entered the laboratory and then walked up to the container that held Kin.

The scientist got a big grin on his face and turned to face Orochimaru as he said "Absolutely Orochimaru-sama, it appears that the Kurama Clan DNA has completely and successfully merged with this girls DNA. Here check the results for yourself."

"Excellent, it appears this one will be useful to me after all." hissed Orochimaru as his snake like smile returned when he read the readout.

"Absolutely Orochimaru-sama, Just think about it, when she fully masters her new abilities she could theoretically create a Genjutsu so powerful that any damage done in it would become permanent. The possibilities are limitless." said the scientist as he looked up at Kin as she remained motionless, floating in the strange liquid that filled the tank.

Kin barely lifted her eyelids so no one could tell she was awake and she saw Orochimaru approach her glass container before he gazed up at her. His snake like smile got a little bigger as he said "If this experiment performs up to my expectations, than my revenge will come that much sooner. Ku, Ku, Ku, Ku!"

As Kin floated in the liquid she closed her eyes shut so no one would realize she was still awake as she thought _'So he does plan to just use me after all…'_

(End Flashback)

"Kurama Clan? I've never heard of them before. Just who are they? And what are they capable of?" asked Naruto as he crossed his arms over his chest before he looked around the group hoping to get an answer.

Tsunade brought her right hand up to her chin, in a thinking position, and said "Kurama… now where have I heard that name before?"

Kin lowered her head and in an apologetic tone said "Sorry, but all I know is they were good with Genjutsu."

"They are a small clan that resides within Konoha. They are a clan that are unusually good at Genjutsu, some have even gone as far as to say that they have a Kekkei Genkai." said Sarutobi as he lowered the tip of his hat so that they covered his eyes. He then let out a deep sigh and thought _'Orochimaru, just how far, will you go to accomplish your ambitions? It was precisely this mentality that cost you the Hokage title to begin with.'_

Kushina looked over at Sarutobi as said "Well that explains why he went so far. Old Man you should have taken him out when you had the chance, instead of letting him get away the way you did."

Sarutobi's eyes narrowed slightly as he turned to face Kushina and asked "How did you know about that?"

"I have my sources." replied Kushina in a stern voice as she put her hands on her hips.

Sarutobi nodded his head in realization as he said "I see, then that means you must have a very good spy network."

Kushina's mood immediately darkened as her eyes looked at the ground and she mumbled "It apparently wasn't good enough."

Jiraiya cleared his throat to get everyone's attention before he said "It's not good to dwell in the past Kushina, besides we have more pressing matters to attend to."

"For instants, what are we going to do this little lady here." said Jiraiya as he pointed at Kin and then added "I don't think it would be such a good idea to put her back into one of the holding cells, considering how easy it was for Orochimaru to break in."

"He's right, if Orochimaru values that girl he won't just give up. He'll be back." warned a very serious Anko who had just finished munching on some Dango.

Tsunade thought about this for a moment before she said "I think I know where we can keep her. She'll be safe there guarded by people we can trust."

"I'll have Crow and Wolf on guard duty within the hour." said Kushina.

Sarutobi let out a sigh before he said "Then it's settled, I'll leave the rest to you, and don't tell anyone where you're keeping her. I don't want anymore rooftops destroyed ok."

When Naruto saw Sarutobi point to the smoldering rooftop he got a sheepish grin on his face and rubbed the back of his head as he said "Heh, heh What can I say? It was the easiest way to get everyone's attention."

"That it did Naruto-kun, but it's going to take weeks to repair all that damage." said Sarutobi continued to point at the demolished rooftop.

Tsunade moved between Naruto and Sarutobi before she put her hands on her hips and said "And just what do you think he should have done, HUH Sarutobi-sensei?!"

Sarutobi got very concerned when he saw that his comment had pissed off Tsunade. So he quickly replied "Don't get me wrong Tsunade, I don't blame him for what he did. I just want to avoid any future damage to the village."

Tsunade just stared at Sarutobi for a moment before she said "You better mean that old man. Come on Naru-Chan it's getting pretty late so let get going."

Naruto let out a sigh as he watched Tsunade head off toward their place of residence before he said "Man, I hate it when Kaasan gets like this. Oh well, come on Haku-Chan let get our new guest situated shall we?"

"Of coarse Naruto-Kun." said Haku as she motioned for Kin to follow her as Naruto fell in behind them as they quickly followed Tsunade down the dimly light street.

Once they were out of sight Jiraiya noticed the look on Sarutobi's face, so he said "You do remember how they feel about this place, right?"

Sarutobi let out a deep sigh and said "Yes I do, and it saddens me that my failures have cost Konoha greatly. But I still feel that the fate of this village rests upon his shoulders."

(Danzou's private office)

Danzou leaned back in his chair and looked at the giant map of Fire Country that was on his wall, as he contemplated the events he had just heard about. _'So Orochimaru is after that Oto shinobi that was captured last week. I wonder what makes that girl so valuable. And is there a way to turn this to my advantage?'_

After a few more minutes of contemplation Danzou brought his hand up to his chin as he muttered "What are you really after Orochimaru?"

"Why the utter destruction of Konoha of course."

Danzou quickly swiveled his chair around to see Orochimaru rise from the floor. Once Orochimaru had completely entered the room Danzou narrowed his eye and asked "What are you doing here?"

Orochimaru got a disappointed expression on his face as he said "My, my do you really think so little of me? I'm here to discuss the offer your subordinate made to me in the forest."

Internally Danzou was truly surprised that Orochimaru already knew he was the one that made the deal, but externally he gave away no signs of his surprise. Instead he got a serious look on his face and said "And why should that offer still be on the table? I mean you did just threaten to destroy the village."

"Ku, Ku, Ku, well then how about I just kill you now and be done with it?" said Orochimaru as he let a predatory smile cross his face.

"Now, now lets not be to hasty, shall we? I'm sure we can work out a compromise that will be mutually beneficial." said a calm and composed, Danzou.

Orochimaru looked at Danzou curiously as he asked "What kind of compromise?"

Danzou let a smile cross his face as he said "How about I still help you kill that old fool, if you have useful knowledge of the jutsu I desire, and when you attack the village you only attack those shinobi loyal to him."

"And why should I just target them?"

Danzou leaned forward with a serious look on his face as he said "Because if you weaken his following enough my people can take over, and make this village the way it should have been. Once the takeover is successful, you'll have a powerful new ally."

Orochimaru got a smile on his face and said "So old man you still desire that foolish position huh?"

"I'm no fool. The council will never allow a cripple like me to take that position anyway. But that doesn't matter I find that I control far more power from the shadows anyway." said Danzou as he got a sinister smile on his face.

"Than what do you plan to do once I kill Sarutobi-sensei?" asked Orochimaru as he looked at Danzou curiously.

Danzou meet Orochimaru's gaze as he said "You don't need to worry about that, I have my own plans for dealing with that problem."

Orochimaru's smile turned more snake like as he said "Interesting, but I fail to see the benefit for me going along with your compromise."

Danzou arced his eyebrow and said "Oh, then how does this sound? If you agree then I promise you that you can continue your experiments with no retaliation from our village council. If your experiments enable us to remain strong then I see no harm in them."

Orochimaru's smile got even bigger as he thought of all the possible test subjects he could have if this worked. After a few moments of contemplation he said "Fine I'll go along with your plan for now. So why don't you tell me what this jutsu is?"

Danzou leaned back into his chair once again as his sinister smile returned and he said "Tell me everything you know about HIRAISHIN NO JUTSU." (Flying Thunder God Technique)

(Just Outside Danzou's Office)

Yuugao had been snooping around when she heard Orochimaru's voice so she went to investigate. After she heard what the two were talking about she narrowed her eyes and thought _'So that's what he's after. I have to inform Kushina-sama about this.'_

But before Yuugao could even take one step she heard someone say "HEY YOU! Just what are you doing on this level?!"

'_Shit! What's he doing here? There wasn't suppose to be another patrol through here for at least another fifteen minutes.'_ thought Yuugao as she turned to face the 'Ne' member.

When Yuugao didn't immediately answer the 'Ne' pulled out his sword and said "I said what are you doing here?"

Yuugao took up a non-aggressive stance and quickly said "Hold up now, I was just passing through on my way to my mission debriefing."

"Really? Then way don't we go in and ask Danzou-sama about that?" asked the skeptical 'Ne'.

"I guess there's no choice then." sighed Yuugao and before the 'Ne' could even blink she pulled out her sword and rammed it into his chest.

As the man's body fell to the ground Yuugao said "If you hadn't come by here so soon this wouldn't have happened. Now I have to clean up this mess before…"

"What's going on out here?" asked Danzou as he opened the door to his office, which forced Yuugao to leave the body where it was while she made a strategic retreat. The moment Danzou walked out into the hallway he noticed the dead 'Ne' member and after he finished looking him over he noticed that the wound was caused by a 'Ne' issued sword. So he narrowed his eye and said "So I have a spy in my ranks."

The moment Danzou finished those words another 'Ne' guard came into view and Danzou shouted "We have a spy amongst us! Have all available units lock this place down and do a floor by floor search! I want this traitor found NOW!!"

Yuugao had just passed through the last check point, and was only several yards away from the exit of the building when the alarms suddenly went off, signaling that the building was to put in lock down. She inwardly cursed as she thought _'Damn it! This just isn't my day! First that idiot had to make his rounds early and now this. What's next?'_

"Hold on a moment!" said the 'Ne' Guard as he walked over to Yuugao while another nine guards completely surrounded her.

Yuugao looked at all the shinobi that surrounded her and asked "Is there a problem? I am on an important mission after all."

"You know the rules; anyone attempting to leave once the alarm goes off is to be detained for questioning. Now disarm and follow me." said the Guard as he put his hand out in a motion for Yuugao to hand over her weapons.

Yuugao tilted her head to the side and replied "But I was on my way out before the alarm went off, so surely I'm not responsible for what's going on."

"That may be true but orders are orders. So please hand over your weapons and follow me to the detention area." said the Guard.

'_If I hand over my weapons they're sure to match them to the deathblow given to their dead comrade. Well my cover is pretty much blown anyway, so I might as well fight my way out.'_ thought Yuugao as she unsheathed her sword, which was still coated in blood.

Before the guards could even react she plunged her sword into the guard that was standing in front of her, she then pulled out two kunai and flung them at the guards on her right. One of the kunai imbedded itself right between the eyes of one of the guards while the other guard managed to move his head so that only a portion of his ear was sliced off.

As the wounded guard grabbed his ear in pain Yuugao ran up to him and plunged her sword into his chest. After she pulled her sword out she snapped her wrist down in an effort to get some of the blood off of her blade as she said "That's three down…"

By this time the other guards finally got over their shock and charged. Yuugao managed to block the sword swing from the guard that charged in right in front of her, and then delivered a punch to the man's jaw before she shifted her position, and did a leg sweep to the two that tried to attack from behind. She then delivered a vicious uppercut to the guard that came in on her right, and quickly turned to her left to block a sword strike from this guard. At the moment she blocked the strike, the sixth guard moved in on her exposed left side and aimed a kunai at her chest.

Yuugao's eyes widened when she realized that she wouldn't be able to move in time to avoid the strike, but before the kunai could even get close enough to cause any damage, a black kunai embedded itself into the temple of the attacking guard. As the man's lifeless body fell to the wooden floor, all involved parties turn in the direction the kunai came from and saw a figure shrouded in a black cloak standing in the doorway.

One of the guards looked at the figure and asked "How did you get in here?!"

"HEH! Wouldn't you like to know." replied the figure before he suddenly vanished.

The figure moved with blinding speed and moved over to the guard he killed before he pulled out the kunai. He then moved behind one of the guards and slit his throat, before he threw the kunai once again and nailed another guard between the eyes. As the two bodies fell to the ground he got behind his third victim and snapped his neck.

The moment he released the guards head, he pulled out the man's sword and then went after one of the remaining two guards. The black cloaked figure then made an elegant horizontal slash which completely severed this guards head from his neck, the figure then used the sword to pierce the chest of the last surviving guard.

By the time the figure released the sword, which he left inside the last guard; his first two victims hit the ground. Yuugao tightened her grip on her sword and readied herself for an attack when the figure turned toward her and said "You better hurry, more guards will be here soon."

"Why are you helping me?" asked Yuugao as she eyed the figure suspiciously.

The figure just shrugged his shoulders as he turned his back to her and said "Let's just say that your escape will be beneficial to me, and leave it at that."

Yuugao realized that she would get nothing further from the man nodded her head before she took off out the door, jumped onto the nearest rooftop and headed toward her destination.

When Yuugao was out of sight the figure turned toward the exit and started to chuckle as he thought _'Yes that's right, run and tell Kushina what you've learned. Have everyone's attention fixed on that old fool Danzou so that me and my men will go unnoticed until it's too late…'_

(The Memorial Stone- The Following Morning)

Kakashi continued to do what he's been doing since before dawn, and that is to stare at the polished black stone the bore the names of all those shinobi who died in the line of duty. He let out a sigh and thought _'What should I do Obito? You were the first person to make me realize that my father's actions weren't as bad as I first thought. That he should be seen as a hero instead of a traitor, who ended up taking his own life. If I take the offer my fathers name will be cleared but the repercussions…'_

His thoughts were soon interrupted when he heard someone say "I figured I find you here Kakashi."

Kakashi turned around and saw Raven with her back up against a tree. He eyed her cautiously and casually asked "What does a member of the Kage Ga-Do want with me?"

Raven kept her back up against the tree and in an accusing tone of voice said "I know what Danzou has offered you. I came here to find out what your answer will be."

Kakashi's visible eye widened slightly before he hardened his gaze at the masked shinobi and said "That's none of your business."

Raven turned her head so that her mask was in Kakashi's direct line of sight before she harshly said "It is my business, when a shinobi willingly endangers others for his own selfish gains!"

When she saw Kakashi narrow his eye further she scratched the back of her head before she let out an aggravated sigh and said "Do you really think your father would want you to betray your principles just to clear his name?"

"Don't talk about my father as if you knew him." snapped Kakashi who was starting to get a little aggravated with this masked shinobi.

Raven pushed herself off of the tree and stormed past Kakashi so that she was between him and the memorial stone. She then placed her right hand on the stone and took a few deep breaths before she said "You're right, I didn't know him personally. But I do know that he was faced with a very difficult choice: save his friends or the success of their mission."

Kakashi was visible shaken, after all how could this stranger know so much about his father. But before he could say anything Raven looked down at the stone and in a soft voice said "And he chose to go against the rules of the village and save his friends. I know this cost the village greatly and he was seen as a traitor because of it. I also know that this affected him so much that he decided to take his own life."

'_How does this person know so much about my father? That information was classified as top secret after his death. No one outside of the village could possibly know about it.'_ thought Kakashi as his confusion got to him and he tried to figure out who this person is.

After a few moment of silence Kakashi said "My father was a hero who risked his life to save his comrades, and he should be viewed as such."

Raven shook her head and let out a sigh before she turned around and softly said "You really are a fool. I know he would never want you do go against your principles just to clear his name. If anything he would want you to uphold THEM!!"

Kakashi actually got angry when he heard this and he walked up to Raven and pointed his finger at her face as he shouted "How would you know what he would want?! You already said you didn't know him personally, so don't go making any kind of assumptions!"

An aggravated Raven shoved his finger out of her face and then moved closer to that they were face to face before she shouted back "Oh I wouldn't would I!! I'll let you in on a little secret! When I was younger I met a man who was trained by your father, and he deeply believed in his principles!! Though he never would admit it, I know for a fact that this was drilled into him by your FATHER!!"

Kakashi was taken back by this comment for he didn't know of anyone else who was trained by his father, and after he took a couple of deep breaths to calm down he asked "And just WHO is this person that was trained by my father."

Raven smirked behind her mask and in a mocking tone of voice said "You know him very well."

This completely flabbergasted Kakashi as he tried to figure out who she was talking about. Then when it finally dawned on him he felt like a complete idiot for not seeing it earlier, but this revelation caused him to sigh "You don't know me as well as you think you do. People DO change over time."

"That's become quite apparent…" snapped Raven as she turned around and looked down at the memorial stone, and once she put her hand on the stone as she got a sad tone in her voice before she added "Because the Kakashi I knew wouldn't even hesitate to make the right choice. He would never betray his principles to clear his father's name, especially when it would put others in danger."

Kakashi kept his eyes locked on Ravens mask as he sighed "That… was a long time ago."

Raven hardened her gaze behind her mask as she said "Bullshit!! I know for a fact that that person is still in there. He may be buried deep inside of you but he's still there."

Kakashi lowered his head in shame before he said "You give me too much credit."

"I guess I have…" sighed a defeated Raven as she looked at the monument one last time.

"I'm sorry Sensei, Obito I guess I failed again after all." said a saddened Raven before she disappeared in a puff of smoke.

Kakashi just stared at the spot Raven stood at a few moments ago and as a faint breeze blow across the area his eye widened in shock as he stuttered "R-Rin…?"

Next Chapter: Kushina's brutal training coarse

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Author's note2: Well there you have it I hope you liked the chap and as you can see Naruto starts training for the final's also now that Kakashi knows that Raven is actually Rin what do you think will he do? I hope to see you all for the next update so you can find out. Later.


	26. Kushina's brutal training course

-1"Speech"

'_Thoughts'_

**Demon/Summon/inner Sakura speech**

_**Demon/Summon thoughts**_

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or any of the characters created by Kishimoto, but all OC's are my own creation.

Narutomaniac: While it is true that Sai is one of his best in cannon I'm having it so that Danzou has more skilled shinobi that are under the radar (that way he becomes more dangerous) but don't worry I do plan on him getting what he disserves when his part is over. As for the jail break I do have an explanation for this that is covered in this chapter (Sarutobi has launched an investigation into why no one knew about it until Naruto destroyed the rooftop). Now as for Danzou immediately suspecting a spy, well I'm going to have Ne swords made a specific way which leaves a unique wound immediately recognizable by fellow Ne operatives. He will start to question his internal security because Yuugao was able to sneak in and kill a member of his security staff right outside of his office door in his highly secure headquarters.

Sacred Beast117: Yep that's the pairing I have in mind.

sandaime23: I will touch on why she never let Kakashi know in this chapter.

Bryndog-Hopps: I won't say much but I will tell you that Sasuke will learn of the difference between their skill level first hand.

Author's note: Man this was a hard chapter to write, but at least it is my longest chapter to date. It took me quite awhile to get the interactions just right, I had to rewrite several scenes to get the emotions I wanted to convey.

Now on with the story

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Chapter 26: Kushina's brutal training course

The morning rays of sunshine had just peaked over the top of the Hokage Monument as Yuugao ran into a dark and dank alleyway. She then hid behind an old rusty trash bin just as a squad of 'Ne' ANBU passed by overhead.

The Squad stopped on the rooftop just above the alley; that's when the leader touched the side of his mask and said "No sign of the traitor in the east district. But we'll continue to sweep the area until the target is located."

Yuugao watched the squad head off towards the west end of town and thought _'Clever, they're disguising their search pattern to make it look like a regular village patrol. It's too risky to travel in the daylight, I can't go around killing my pursuers in broad daylight after all, then I would have all of Konoha after me. So I'll just have to wait until nightfall to contact Kushina-sama.'_

(Hokage's Office)

The morning sun shone through the window while Sarutobi sat down in his chair and took a puff from his pipe as Gekkou Hayate, the shinobi in charge of investigating the prison break-in, opened the double doors and entered the Hokage's Office. Sarutobi leveled his gaze at Hayate and in a serious tone of voice said "So Hayate, mind telling me how Orochimaru was able to pull this off? While at the same time, able to leave us in the dark until Naruto destroyed that rooftop with his paper bomb."

Hayate looked down at the piece of paper in his hand before he brought his other hand up to his mouth and said "(Cough, cough) Well Hokage-sama according to our preliminary findings, the two ANBU units that were assigned to that area were killed and their bodies hidden in the foliage about fifty yards behind the prison. Also it appears that after they infiltrated the prison they killed all of the guards stationed in the control center, before sealing off the ventilation system for the level with the prisoner in question."

"Sealed off the ventilation system?" questioned Sarutobi as his eyebrows raised slightly at what this could imply.

"Yes sir (cough, cough). After they sealed off that level they then pumped an unknown gas into the ventilation which incapacitated all of the guards and prisoners on the other levels. Once all of these guards were unconscious, they then proceeded to kill all of the guards, except for the Kumori shinobi Hawk, on the level with Kin's cell."

Sarutobi set his pipe on his desk and leaned back into his chair while he brought his fingertips together just underneath his chin before he said "I see, and what about after Naruto punched that hole in the wall. Why didn't anyone in the area report this until the explosion?"

"(Cough, cough)Well Hokage-sama, we discovered that the civilian populous was placed under a genjutsu during these events. (Cough, cough) As for the other shinobi in the area… the reason for their lack of response in undetermined at this time, but we assume that they could have been affected by the genjutsu as well, I've been told that it was a very powerful one, not easy to break. We'll know more once the investigation is complete." said Hayate as he raised his eyes from the paper and looked up at Sarutobi.

"Thank-you for your report Hayate, but I want you to hand over the rest of this investigation to Ibiki, I have another task in mind for you." said Sarutobi.

Hayate got a curious looked on his face as he said "Hokage-sama?"

Sarutobi got a serious look on his face and placed his hands on his desk and said "I've been given some information that links Suna with Orochimaru's plans. So I want you to tail that Jounin Sensei from Suna and see what else you can learn. The survival of the village may depend on it."

"Hai Hokage-sama." said Hayate as he bowed his head before he disappeared in a puff of smoke.

After Hayate left Sarutobi swiveled his chair around, so that he could look at the Hokage Monument, and thought _'This doesn't make any sense, why would Orochimaru go through all that and then only lead the Kumori shinobi away? Could he be trying to worsen the already poor relationship between the two villages? No that can't be it, he's already on Kushina's bad side for what he did to Naruto in Tanzuku Town. So what could it be? _(Sarutobi let out a deep sigh) _I'm getting to old for this…'_

As Sarutobi got up out of his chair and put his hat on he looked out his window at the village and mumbled "I think it's time I had that talk with Tsunade I've been putting off. I just hope she'll see things from my perspective."

(Shinobi Training Area- a few hours later)

Haku entered the lush green training area and had a look around. She noticed the three wooden posts in the center on the field which was surrounded on three sides by trees and a lake on its fourth side. That's when her eyes fell upon Naruto and she blushed as she remembered the conversation she had with Kushina the night before.

(Flashback-Last night)

Haku sat in front of a large mirror, attached to a finely crafted oak love chest, and while she brushed her long black hair she reflected on the days events. After a few minutes of reflection she let out a sigh and thought _'I thought I was going to lose you today Naruto-kun, and that's…, that's something I don't think I could bear. Why…, Why can't I tell him how I really feel?'_

She had just finished brushing her hair, when there was a sudden knock on her door and then heard a female voice say "May I come in?"

Haku turned to face the door before she said "Yes you can come in."

Haku's eyes widened in surprised when she saw Kushina walk into the room. After Kushina entered she noticed that Haku was getting ready for bed and in an apologetic tone of voice said "Sorry to bother you at such a late hour but I just wanted to talk with you about Naruto-kun."

"Naruto-kun? Is something wrong?" asked a very concerned Haku.

"No, no, he's just fine, it's just ah…well… you see…I wanted to know…" Kushina started to say before she started to rub the back of her head in a nervous jester.

Haku cocked an eyebrow when she noticed the nervousness in Kushina's voice and asked "Kushina-sama? What do you want to know?"

Kushina let out a sigh and mumbled "Damn I'm no good at this sort of thing. I can deal with making life and death decisions everyday, negotiate with hostile nations without even batting an eye, but I can't even ask you a simple question. Ironic huh?"

"Ah… What are you talking about?" asked a very confused Haku.

Kushina closed her eyes and took a couple of deep breaths before she opened them and looked directly into Haku's eyes as she said "Look I'll get straight to the point. Do you love Naruto-kun?"

Haku's eyes widened in shock before her face turned as red as a tomato and she lowered her head in a sheepish manner, and focused on the brush, that she was twiddling in her hands, as she said "Um… you see… the truth is…"_ 'Why? Why am I having such a hard time expressing my feelings for Naruto-kun?'_

Kushina got a sly smile on her face as she moved in a little closer and said "Ha, I knew it! You really do love him!"

Haku shifted her attention from the brush in her hand to Kushina, who by now was right next to her. She then hardened her gaze and said "Kushina-sama, were you just playing me earlier so you'd catch me off guard like that? Because if you were…"

"Easy now Haku-san, I wasn't playing you earlier." said Kushina as she waved her hands in front of her in an attempt to ease Haku's gaze. She then let out a depressive sigh and muttered "Remember, I'm new to this whole parenting thing, and it looks like I'm really not that good at it."

"Then why did you come here? Shouldn't you be talking to Naruto-kun?" asked a curious Haku as she put the brush down on the love chest.

Kushina let out another sigh before she looked into Haku's eyes and said "You know better than anyone how hard it is to get past Naruto-kun's defenses. I fear that no matter what I say he won't listen to me. I just want him to be happy… and that's why I came here."

Haku's gaze softened as she put her hand over Kushina's in a reassuring jester as she said "It's ok I want Naruto-kun to be happy too, but I still don't see how asking me if I…, I love him, will make him happy."

A sad look appeared on Kushina's face before she turned her gaze to the window off to their left, and as she watched the swaying of the trees she said "I know that Naruto-kun feels that because of what he is, he'll always have to keep people at arms length while he watches them live the normal life that he was denied."

"I know that feeling all too well…" muttered Haku as she lowered her head and reflected on her past before she met Zabuza. Then after a few moments Haku realized something and turned her attention back to Kushina before she asked "But what does that have to do with your earlier question?"

"Everything!" said Kushina before she knelt down and put her hands on Haku's shoulders and then continued with, "Haku-san don't you get it? It can be YOU that gives him that chance at a normal life. YOU can be the one to make him realize that he doesn't have to keep people at arms length, and that despite the fact that he's a Jinchuuriki, he can still find love. All you have to do is tell him how you feel."

Haku's eyes widened at what Kushina was implying before she lowered her head slightly and sighed, "But… I don't know how Naruto-kun would react to that. What if this caused him to shut me out? Or worse… what if he thought I was just trying to hurt him like the people of this village have?"

Kushina got a reassuring smile on her face as she shook her head before, in a calming tone of voice, said "He would never shut you out or think ill of you. Trust me I speak from personal experience here. When I first met Minato-kun he was a progeny with a horde of fan girls. At first I was afraid to say anything because I wasn't sure how he's take it. But after awhile I got fed up with it, and had some harsh words for him. And you know what happened? He just gave me one of his big smiles and told me that I was right, he gave me his word he'd deal with the problem, and that's exactly what he did. So have faith, just follow your heart and it will guide you to the right answer."

"But…"

Kushina put her right index finger up to Haku's lips, thus silencing Haku's protest, before she repeated "Just follow your heart."

(End flashback)

'_Just follow my heart huh? It's a lot easier than it sounds. My heart is so full of doubt right now.' _thought Haku as she crossed the grassy field and made her way over to Naruto.

Naruto got a smile on his face as Haku approached and when she was only a few feet from him he said "Morning Haku-chan! So what kind of training do you think we'll get for the finals?"

"I don't know Naruto-kun." replied Haku as she marveled at all the energy Naruto had this early in the morning. As both of them waited for their sensei's to arrive, Haku tried to build up her courage by thinking about Kushina's advice _'Just follow my heart. Just follow my heart. Just follow my heart.' _She then let out a sigh and said "It's now or never… Um… Naruto-kun?"

Naruto turned his attention towards Haku and said "What is it Haku-chan?"

Haku suddenly felt very uncomfortable under Naruto's gaze, so she took a couple of deep breaths before she said "Naruto-kun there's something I want to tell you. Actually I've wanted to tell you for a while now. You see, I…"

But before Haku could finish her sentence Kushina landed in the middle of the training field shortly followed by Zabuza. Kushina looked at Naruto and Haku before she said "Alright you two, since Naruto-kun convinced Tsunade-sama and Shizunce-san to help that Lee boy, and with both of them searching for a way to safely operate on him. I'll be in charge of your training until they're finished. Now before we begin with your training, I want to see how well your teamwork is. So we're going to have a little spar."

"A spar? So are there any restrictions or is it a free-for-all?" asked Naruto as he tilted his head slightly to the right while he crossed his arms over his chest.

"No you two don't have any restrictions, I can't say the same for myself however. I mean the spar wouldn't last too long if I went at it at full strength." said Kushina as she got a playful smile on her face.

Naruto nodded his head in agreement before he turned his attention towards Zabuza and said "And what about Zabuza-sensei, is he going to take part in the spar as well?"

Zabuza crossed his arms over his chest and looked Naruto in the eyes as he said "No brat, I'm staying out of this one. Kushina-sama wants to evaluate your teamwork."

"Now shall we begin?" asked Kushina as she looked at both Haku and Naruto.

The moment Kushina finished her question both Naruto and Haku vanished. Kushina did a quick scan of the area before a smile appeared on her face and she thought _'Not bad, they've completely masked their presence. It's good to see that they're taking this seriously. Now all I have to do is wait for them to attack.'_

Meanwhile up in the thick foliage of the trees, Naruto had just rendezvoused with Haku. The moment he landed next to her he said "What do you say Haku-chan? Want to go with attack plan Delta?"

Haku's eyes widened in shock as she turned to face Naruto before she quietly replied "Attack plan Delta? Are you crazy?! We've only just started on that attack plan! It's nowhere near ready for implementation. Why don't we go with attack plan Alpha, or how about Beta? Both of those are ready and fully tested."

"I know but Delta's our best course of action right now. Alpha's to straight forward, it won't work on her she's too good, and I'd like to save Beta as our backup plan incase Delta fails. I'd like your consent on this, so if you have a better plan, please tell me." said Naruto as he checked his pouch to make sure that he had everything he needed.

Haku thought about it for a moment before she asked "But… are you sure you mastered that jutsu? If it isn't done properly you could seriously hurt yourself."

"Don't worry, compared to the Rasengan this jutsu was a piece of cake." said Naruto as he got a sincere smile on his face.

Haku silently nod her head in agreement as she said "Alright Naruto-kun if you're sure, we'll go with attack plan Delta."

Naruto made a cross shaped hand-seal as he got a fox like smile on his face and said "Alright then let's get started! Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!" (Shadow Clones Technique)

Kushina tapped her foot as she scan the area and found nothing. _'Man what's taking them so long? Naruto-kun seemed so eager to start this spar a little while ago. I want to see what kind of plan they've come up with.'_

Just then Naruto jumped out of a tree, that was behind Kushina, and threw several kunai at Kushina's back. Kushina immediately spun to her left and as the kunai flew harmlessly by her, she moved in on Naruto and said "Not bad, but you were too slow in your attack. I heard you coming the moment you left the tree."

Kushina got a curious look on her face when she saw Naruto smile as she got closer and thought _'What are you're Kage Bunshins up too Naruto-kun? Some kind of distraction to keep me occupied while you get into position? Well let's see what you've got planned shall we.'_

She didn't get a chance to contemplate it much further, for the second she was a few feet for Naruto another Kage Bunshin burst threw the ground and tried to deliver an uppercut. Kushina tiled her head back, which caused the Bunshin's fist to miss his target by mere inches, and went into a back flip.

The moment Kushina landed a third Naruto appeared with a fully formed Rasengan in the palm of his hand. Kushina shook her head slightly as she thought _'Interesting, but I think they forgot the meaning behind this exercise. I think it's time I end this.'_

When the Naruto that had the Rasengan got into range Kushina pivoted on the ball of her foot so that he would pass harmlessly beside her. She then grabbed his wrist and hurled him into the other two Naruto's that were moving into strike. As all three puffed out of existence Kushina said "Remember I said this was to test your TEAMWORK! So I'm waiting!"

Just then Kushina felt a chakra spike behind her, she immediately spun around and saw that Haku, who now stood on top of the lake, finished a series of hand-seals before Haku said "Suiton: Tsunami no Justu!" (Water Style: Tidal Wave Technique)

Kushina watched as the lake surface rose up, forming a wave at least fifteen feet high, and rushed toward her. Just before the wave hit her however, she used Kawarimi no Jutsu (Art of Substitution) to get out of harms way.

As the water receded back into the lake it left the surrounding area saturated with a layer of water. Kushina landed in the center of the water soaked field and scanned the area only to discover that Haku was no where in sight. A smile appeared on Kushina's face as she shouted "Is that all?! I was hoping for something a little more!"

A few sparks of electricity circled around Naruto's left hand, who was using his chakra to cling to the trunk of a tree about a foot above the water soaked ground, and as a fox like smile spread across his face he lowered his hand to the waterline before he said "Something a little more huh? Well how about this! Raiton: Dendou Dageki!" (Lightening Style: Electric Shock)

The electoral current shot through the water laden ground until it came into contact with Kushina's feet. The charge wasn't strong but still powerful enough to send the muscles inside of Kushina's body to spasm and convulse. After a second of this she disappeared in a puff of smoke.

Naruto jumped down to the ground as his eyes darted from one side of the field to the other and after he finished his scan of the area he said "Damn it! Were is she?"

"Right here." said Kushina as she appeared behind Naruto and put a kunai to his throat before she added "Impressive, you used your Kage Bunshin's as a distraction while Haku-san got into position to launch her attack. Then when I was able to dodge the attack you used the residual effects of Haku-san's jutsu to launch a surprise attack. But it's over now, with you as my captive this exercise is over."

"Oh really? What makes you think that I'm the real Naruto?" asked Naruto.

Kushina's lips curled into a smile as she said "REMEMBER I have master Kage Bunshin to such a degree that I can differentiate the original from the Bunshins."

"Ha, Ha, Ha, Ha! It looks like Baa-Chan was right about this variation after all." chuckled Naruto before he disappeared in a puff of smoke.

"What?!" asked a shocked Kushina as her eyes darted across the entire field as she thought _'Why couldn't I tell that, that was just a Bunshin?! Could Kyuubi-sama's chakra have affected it in some way? But then why didn't it affect the others?'_

While Kushina scanned the field Haku focused her chakra into the palm of her hands as she said "Hyouton…"

"Fuuton…" Naruto quickly added as he charged his own chakra.

"Touketsu Reppuu!!" (Frozen Gale) shouted Naruto and Haku as a powerful wind, littered with crystallized ice shards, shot towards Kushina.

Kushina brought her arms in front of her face just as the 45 mile per hour winds hit her at full force. When the crystallized ice shards pierced her flesh however, she went up in a puff of smoke.

"SHIT!" snapped Naruto when he and Haku suddenly heard clapping coming from one of the trees behind them. Both of them turned around and saw Kushina standing on the top branch of the tree directly behind them.

Kushina continued to clap for a few more moments before she said "I'm impressed, had I been a lesser opponent you surely would have got me with that attack pattern. But now it's my turn to retaliate."

She then moved at a speed that neither Naruto or Haku could follow. Kushina delivered a hard side kick to Haku's lower abdomen, which caused Haku to fly back and land hard against a trunk of a tree. She then nailed Naruto in the solar plexus with a strong uppercut.

Naruto grabbed his stomach and took several steps back before he fell to his knees. He coughed severely for a few moments before he slowly got back to his feet. Once on his feet Naruto got into his fighting stance and weakly said "I-It's going to take more than that, to take me down."

"I see Tsunade-sama has trained you well. That blow should have rendered you unconscious." said a smiling Kushina.

"Well I'm not her apprentice for nothing you know." said Naruto before the pain of the earlier blow became too much and he collapsed to one knee. A green glow encompassed Naruto's hand and as he started to heal his injury he thought _'Damn it! She cracked a couple of ribs. That blow felt similar to Kaasan's attacks when we spar but not exact, I wonder if Kaasan gave her a few pointers in the past?'_

"**I don't know kit, but I can tell you that there are only a few people out there that can give her a run for her money. You should consider yourself lucky that she took it easy on you." **chuckled Kyuubi as she enjoyed the show from behind her cage.

'_Took it easy on us?! She just made us look like a couple of Genin fresh out of the academy. Even after all the attack's we did she doesn't have a scratch, while she took out Haku-Chan and myself with one blow!'_ mentally snapped Naruto as the green glow around his hands subsided which indicated that he finished healing his injuries.

"**True… but you do realize that she could have knocked both of you out, and you'd never have known what hit you, RIGHT?" **said a serious Kyuubi as she emphasized the last word to get her point across.

'_That's not very reassuring Baa-Chan. But it looks like I've got a lot of work ahead of me if I want to get to her level.'_ thought Naruto as he let out a frustrated sigh.

Kushina noticed his frustration and asked "Is everything alright Naruto-kun? I didn't hurt you too badly did I?"

"No, no, nothing like that. I just realized that I've got a long way to go to catch up to you and Kaasan." said Naruto as he got back to his feet.

A soft smile returned to her face before she put her hand on Naruto's shoulder and said "Don't worry Naruto-kun, with the way you're progressing I'm sure you'll get there eventually. Just give it some time ok?"

Just then they heard a groan and both of them looked over in time to see Haku make it to her feet. As Haku slowly walked over she rubbed her abdomen and said "Man that hurt. Did you have to hit me so hard Kushina-sama?"

"Heh, heh, sorry about that. It's been so long since I sparred with anyone other than my Kage Bunshins, that I guess I don't know my own strength anymore." said Kushina as she rubbed the back of her head and gave Haku a weak smile.

Haku shook her head at Kushina's comment and then groaned when Naruto moved her hand out of the way so he could get a better look at Haku's injury. After he checked her injuries Naruto's hand got a green glow around it again and as he started to heal Haku he said "You're lucky Haku-chan. All you've got is some mild bruising, the hit I got cracked a couple of my ribs."

Once Naruto finished his treatment he withdrew his hand and got a smile of his face as he said "There you go, all better now."

"Thank-you Naruto-kun." said a blushing Haku.

Kushina cleared her throat to get their attention before she said "All right you two, the evaluation of your teamwork is over and I've got to say I'm impressed. But good teamwork won't be enough for what you'll be facing in a month."

"Facing in a month? WAIT! Are you talking about when Oto invades Konoha? You found out it's going to happen during the finals!" said Naruto as he raised his right eyebrow out of curiosity.

Kushina nodded her head as she turned to look at Naruto before she said "Yes, we've discovered that Orochimaru plans to attack sometime during the Chunin Exam Finals."

"Was Kin-san the one that told you this Kushina-sama?" asked a curious Haku.

"Not really, she's told us very little so far, but what she has told us does corroborate with some of what Jiraiya found out. The man maybe a Mega-Pervert, but you can't deny his ability to gather information. I mean he's found out the date of the attack and not only that but he's discovered that Suna could be a possible ally of Oto during the invasion. I just wish I knew how he was able to get this information…" said Kushina before she got lost in her thoughts about Jiraiya's spy network. _'Damn, how does he do it? I've been trying to get a spy in Oto for years, but they were never able to get in. I wish I knew his secret.'_

Kushina's thoughts were interrupted when she heard Naruto say "Suna's going to join the invasion? That complicates things a little, we have to get word to Kumo and let Yugito know about this development immediately."

"It's already been taken care of Naruto-kun. So you don't have to worry about it." said a smiling Kushina before she tossed Naruto an old and dusty scroll and added "Here Naruto-kun this scroll should help you with combining your wind affinity with a jutsu of your choosing. I have a feeling that your going to need it in the battles ahead."

Kushina looked at both of them for a second before she took a deep breath and said "Starting tomorrow I want you to focus on your training so you'll be ready for the upcoming battles. We're only guessing on the strength of the invading force so I want you two to be ready for anything. Anything you want to add Zabuza?"

Zabuza pushed himself off of a tree he was leaning on before he said "Just that I'll be waiting over at Training Ground 44. So Haku when your finished here I want you to join me for some additional training understood?"

"Hai Zabuza-sama." said Haku as she bowed her head as a sign of respect before Zabuza disappeared in a puff of smoke.

After Zabuza left Kushina noticed something out of the corner of her eye before she turned back to the pair and said "Well that's all I have to say for now. So if there is anything that you want to tell each other now's the time. Now if you'll excuse me I'll leave you two alone for a little while, while I take care of some business."

Kushina then winked at Haku before she formed a hand-seal and disappeared in a puff of smoke. Naruto got a curious look on his face and said "If we have something to tell each other? Do you know what she's talking about Haku-chan?"

Haku's face turned bright red and she lowered her head slightly before she said "Ah.. Well actually… I do."

Naruto got a slight look of apprehension on his face as he feared the worst. _'What could she mean by that? Could it be… that she's finally decided that because of what I am, she doesn't want to be my friend anymore?'_ He took a couple of deep breaths before he said "D-Does this mean… you have something to tell me?"

"Hai Naruto-kun, I've wanted to tell you this for awhile." said Haku as she noticed the apprehensive look on Naruto's face.

So she moved closer until they were almost face to face, then after she swallowed Haku moved in, and gently touched Naruto's cheek, with her right hand before she said  
You see…" She then leaned in and gently kissed him on the lips.

Naruto's eyes widened in shock and he stood there in disbelief as Haku pulled away and quietly said "…I love you."

Haku noticed the shocked look on Naruto's face, and when he didn't respond to her confession; she got a concerned look on her face before she asked "Ah Naruto-kun are you ok?"

(Kyuubi's Cage)

"**Ah Kit, this is where you tell her how you feel." **nudged Kyuubi as she rested her head on her front two paws. When Naruto didn't respond Kyuubi raised her head and in a concerned tone of voice said **"Kit?"**

(out in the real world)

'_Uh-oh, Naruto-kun looks catatonic. Maybe the kiss was too much.'_ thought Haku before she let out sigh and then let a small smile to cross her lips as she softly said "…I know you weren't expecting this Naruto-kun. So I'll just give you some time to process what I've told you. I've got to go meet Zabuza-sama anyway. I'll talk to you later."

Haku gave Naruto a small wave before she turned around and headed off towards Training ground 44 with an uncertain heart. Not too long after Haku left Naruto brought his right hand up and touched his lips, he then pulled his fingers away and looked at them for a moment before his eyes shifted to the direction Haku went as he mumbled "Haku-chan… loves me?"

Up in the trees about fifty yards away from Naruto; Kakashi, who had just arrived, giggled a little after he witnessed the interaction between Haku and Naruto. But that was short lived when he suddenly heard Kushina's voice say "You've picked up some bad habits from reading that book of Jiraiya's. Now why don't you tell me what your really doing here. Come to spy on Naruto-kun's training perhaps?"

"Nothing like that." said a calm and composed Kakashi as he stood up and turned around to face Kushina.

Once Kushina saw the look in Kakashi's eye she shook her head and sighed "You're not going to find her here Kakashi. Frankly I'm surprised that she wanted to talk to you at all."

Kakashi was slightly surprised by Kushina's response and said "So it really was Rin. But why are you surprised that Rin wanted to talk to me Kushina-san? We were pretty close after all. I just wish I knew why she never contacted me before now."

Kushina scoffed at Kakashi's last statement and kicked some dead twigs off of the branch she was standing on before she shouted "You don't know WHY?! You've got to be kidding me! After what you did to her, you should consider yourself lucky that she even wanted to talk to you!"

"What I did?" asked Kakashi as a look of confusion crossed his face before he brought his hand up to his chin to contemplate this matter.

Kushina narrowed her eyes and hardened her face as she snapped "You don't even remember, do you? Why am I not surprised! You know if Minato-kun had done what you did to me I never would have forgiven him. Now if there is nothing else, leave! I have some things that I need to take care of."

As Kushina turned to leave Kakashi jumped over to her branch and blocked her path. Kushina narrowed her eyes and pointed to the empty training ground behind them as she said "Get out of my way Kakashi. As you can see Naruto-kun has already left and I have to go and find him."

Kakashi glanced down at the field before he reestablished eye contact and said "Not before you tell me what I did to Rin."

Kushina crossed her arms over her chest and in a serious tone of voice she said "It's not my place to tell you what you did Kakashi, but I will tell you the result of your actions."

"And that is?" asked a curious Kakashi as he crossed his arms over his chest and tilted his head a little to the side.

Kushina pushed past Kakashi and jumped over to another branch before she turned her head slightly to look at Kakashi before she said "You broke her heart."

And thus Kushina headed off into the village in search of Naruto, leaving a stunned Kakashi with a lot to think about.

(Konoha Hospital- Medical and Treatment Library)

Tsunade leaned back in the old oak chair and let out a sigh as she looked around the room. She noticed that the walls on her left and right were lined with shelves upon shelves of scrolls that covered every aspect of the medical field, as well as there being several chairs stacked in one corner. While in the center of the room, where she was currently located, sat a large oak desk and chair for easy access to any of the scrolls nearby.

The moment Tsunade finished stretching her muscles Shizune walked up to the desk with another stake of scrolls from another part of the library. After Shizune put the stake down she wiped her forehead before she looked at Tsunade and said "Do you really think you'll find a way to improve that boy's chances of surviving the surgery Tsunade-sama?"

Tsunade leaned forward and put her elbows on the desk while she rested her chin on top of her hands as she said "I hope so Shizune. Even if I can raise it by five percent it'll greatly increase his chances at survival."

Just then Sarutobi walked into the room and gave Tsunade and Shizune a slight smile before he said "Tsunade we need to have a little talk?"

Tsunade eyed Sarutobi suspiciously as she said "And what would you like to talk to me about Sarutobi-sensei?"

Sarutobi got a tired expression on his face and rubbed the bridge of his nose as he said "Before we begin Tsunade, I want your word that you'll see my side of this and not let your emotions cloud your judgement."

Tsunade narrowed her eyes and got a serious look on her face as she said "What do you want OLD MAN?"

"Please Tsunade give me your word that you won't let your emotions get in the way." said Sarutobi as he moved closer to the desk in the center of the room.

The tone in Tsunade's voice became very harsh and she kept her eyes locked on Sarutobi as she said "I make no promises."

The lights in the room flickered ever so slightly as Sarutobi let out a sigh and said "I guess under the circumstances that's the best I can hope for. Alright I'll get straight to the point. As you know I'm getting up in years, and won't be able to do this job for much longer. So I came here today to ask you something."

'_I really don't like the direction this conversation is headed.'_ thought Tsunade as she already had an idea on where this was headed but she decided to ask anyway; "Just where are you going with this Sarutobi-sensei?"

Sarutobi got a serious look on his face and said "Tsunade I want you to be the Godaime Hokage."

The room went completely silent and Shizune turned her head to look at Tsunade. Once she saw the look on Tsunade's face Shizune quietly said "Tsunade-sama…"

Tsunade sat there for several minutes and just stared at Sarutobi as if he'd lost his mind. It was so quiet you could hear a pin drop, but just before Sarutobi could ask if anything was wrong Tsunade stood up and slammed her hands onto the desk as she shouted "Have you gone SENILE old man?! What the hell made you think that I'd agree to that?!"

Sarutobi remained calm and looked into Tsunade's eyes before he said "Look Tsunade, try and see it from my point of view, please."

Tsunade sat back down in her chair and crossed her arms as she said "You'll just be wasting your time. There's nothing you can say that will make me change my mind."

"The position of Hokage needs someone that can think with their head during tense situations. I also need someone I can trust to take the village in the right direction." said Sarutobi as he pulled his hat down slightly.

Tsunade's face remained serious as she leaned back in her chair and said "You still haven't told me what I wanted to know Sarutobi-sensei. What made you think that I'd ever agree to lead this hellhole of a village that wants MY SON DEAD."

Sarutobi let out a sigh before he said "I had hoped that I could make up for my past failures by setting things right. With you as the Hokage, you could make them see the error of their ways and come to see Naruto as he should have been seen all along."

"So you're telling me, that you're doing this to ease your own conscience." said Tsunade as her expression hardened at Sarutobi's words.

"Nothing like that Tsunade. I will have to live with my guilt for the rest of my life, but I don't want others to pay for my mistakes. With you as Hokage Naruto won't have to pay for them. So PLEASE reconsider your position." said Sarutobi as he pulled a chair from the corner of the room and brought it over to the desk before he sat down.

Tsunade brought her hands together just under her chin and in a serious tone of voice said "What about Jiraiya? Why Don't you ask him for this _HONOR_."

Sarutobi leaned forward in his chair and pointed at Tsunade as he said "You and I both know what he'll say. His distain of the village as grown since Naruto's return to the village."

Tsunade just rolled her eyes and in a sarcastic tone of voice said "Gee I wonder why?"

As a breeze blew past, which caused the trees outside the window to sway, Sarutobi took a deep breath before he sighed "Look I know that the council hasn't lived up to your expectations but there are some council members who are trying to do the right thing."

"That's not enough Sarutobi-sensei and you know IT! Now if you'll excuse me I have to get back to my research so I can fulfill my promise to Naru-chan and find a way to help that Genin of yours." said Tsunade as she stood up and moved over to the shelf on the right wall and pulled out a scroll on human anatomy.

Sarutobi looked over at Shizune and said "Shizune-san please help me convince her to change her mind."

Shizune bowed her head and in a respectful tone of voice said "I'm sorry Hokage-sama, but I happen to agree with Tsunade-sama on this matter. I wouldn't want to force Naruto-kun to live in any village where the very villagers threaten his life."

Sarutobi got a sad expression on his face as he stood up from his chair and headed toward the exit. As he reached the doorway he stopped and looked over his shoulder before he said "Then I'll leave you to your work Tsunade. I hope that one day you'll see where I'm coming from, and realize that this village isn't as bad as it seems."

After Sarutobi left Tsunade scoffed at his comment before she looked down at the scroll in her hands and mumbled "Hmph! When hell freezes over."

(Training Ground 44)

Haku hit the ground hard after the fierce right cross delivered by Zabuza and as she got to her feet Zabuza said "Again."

Haku charged in and threw a punch aimed right at Zabuza's face. Zabuza simply sidestepped Haku's punch, grabbed her by her wrist and then slammed her into the trunk of a tree before he said "Your distracted Haku, that was a sloppy punch."

"I'm sorry Zabuza-sama. I'll try to do better." said Haku as she lowered her head in embarrassment.

Zabuza just stood there and stared at Haku for a moment before he asked "What happened after I left?"

Haku blushed a deep shade of red and quietly said "Nothing happened Zabuza-sama, I just… toldNaruto-kunhowIfelt."

Zabuza got a curious look on his face and, in a very serious tone of voice, said "Oh you did, did you? What have I told you about shinobi and their emotions? But since you brought up that subject, what was his reply?"

Haku kept her head low as she said "Uh… I didn't really stay around to hear his reply."

Zabuza shook his head at this and said "Well that explains why you're so distracted. You'll be useless like this until you deal with what's distracting you. So go and deal with it. We'll pick up where we left off tomorrow.

Haku bowed her head and replied with "Hai Zabuza-sama."

As Haku walked out of the field Zabuza turned around and got a smile under his mask as he thought _'Good luck Haku.'_

(Konoha- A Short Time Later)

Haku ignored the hustle and bustle of the village as she walked down a dusty street completely lost in her own thoughts. _'What do I do now? I'm not sure what Naruto-kun's reaction will be, so I'm not sure how I should proceed. I think I just need something to take my mind off of this right now. I know I'll go and talk to Kin. There have been some things I've been meaning to ask her since she told us a little bit about her past anyway, and hopefully this will take my mind off my worries.'_

A short time later we find Haku standing in front of a simple wooden door guarded by Hawk and Wolf. Wolf looked at Haku as a smile appeared behind her mask as she said "Greetings Haku-san, I take it you want to question Kin?"

"Hai, I have a few questions I'd like to ask. With your permission of course." said Haku as she bowed her head in a respectful tone.

Wolf brought her right hand up to her chin and thought about it for a moment before she said "I don't see any harm, you did help capture her after all. Just promise me that if she tells you anything important you'll let us now right away."

"Don't worry I will." said Haku as she nodded her head in agreement. After that was settled Wolf opened the door and let Haku enter.

As Haku entered the room she marveled at how lavish it was, the room was massive with many tapestries and paintings of the clans history adorning the walls, which appeared to be the bark of a tree, and in the center of the room was a huge king sized bed with a headboard that resembled the branches of a tree. Haku stifled a giggle when she noticed Kin sprawled out of the bed with a massive grin plastered across her face. She took a couple of steps closer to the bed and with a smile on her face she said "I'm glad to see that you're enjoying yourself."

Kin's eyes remained closed and the smile never left her face as she replied "You're damn right I'm enjoying myself! I've never had a bed this nice in my entire life! So I'm going to milk it for all it's worth. If this is how you treat prisoners who've cooperated with you then I must say that I'm impressed."

Haku shook her head slightly before she said "This is a special case. After Orochimaru's attack we felt it best that you be kept close at hand, and this room was the only one unoccupied. You just got lucky that's all."

"I don't care if this was luck or not. After all the scavenging I had to do when I was little, I'll never take anything like this for granted." said Kin before she sat up and looked Haku in the eyes and got a serious look on her face as she added "But I doubt you came here to see if I was enjoying my new accommodations. So what did you want to ask me."

Haku noticed a chair sitting next to the bed so she made her way over to it and sat down before she said "There've been some things that have bothered me ever since our last encounter. You mentioned earlier that just being called an Oto Shinobi made you feel like you weren't human. What did you mean by that?"

Kin visible tensed up and snapped "That's none of your business!"

Haku's expression softened and a sad look appeared in her eyes as she put her hand on Kin's shoulder and quietly said "They abused you didn't they? They made you feel like you were lower than dirt, that your only reason for existence was to be the punching bag for all of those around you. They feared what you could become didn't they?"

Kin's head shot up and she narrowed her eyes at Haku before she said "What the hell would you know about that! You don't know what it's like to live your life like some kind of freak! Hearing people talk about you behind your back! Knowing that they will use every opportunity to prove their superiority over you by trying to beat you every chance there was a spar! The only reason they didn't kill me was because they feared Orochimaru's wrath more."

"I know better than you think,. I was feared and beaten because of my Kekkei Genkai. I had given up all hope when I lost the reason for my existence. If it wasn't for Zabuza-sama I surely would have died. You may not realize it yet but you have a strength of Character that rivals Naruto-kun's." said Haku as she let a small smile cross her face.

Kin got a curious look on her face and said "What do you mean?"

Haku looked Kin square in the eyes and said "He's like you. He was beaten when he was little feared and hated for something he had no control over. But he never gave in, he refused to give up and just look how strong he's become. I see that same inner strength in you, you just refuse to acknowledge it."

"I just did what I have to too survive, always have and always will. There's nothing special about that. Now come on, I doubt you paid me a visit just to ask that. So tell me what you're really here for. You want to know more about Oto's upcoming attack don't you?" said Kin as she eyed Haku suspiciously.

"While it's true I want to know more about that, it's not the reason I came here today. After we brought you to the tower and even after Orochimaru's failed attempt on your life, you said some things that struck a cord with me." replied Haku.

Kin narrowed her eyes and snapped "So you enjoy hearing about my suffering HUH?!"

"No!" interrupted Haku before she quickly added "The suffering you've endured in the past is very similar to what Naruto-kun and myself have gone through. We both know what it's like to be completely alone and feel like the world is out to get you. The only difference is that Naruto-kun and myself found some precious people to give our lives meaning."

Kin crossed her arms over her chest and blew a strand of her hair out of her face as she said "I don't need anyone special to give my life meaning. All I need are the skills necessary to survive, that's all."

Haku shook her head slightly before she looked over at Kin and said "Those skills will enable you to survive yes, but it won't give your life meaning. That kind of outlook will only lead to more suffering."

"Oh then why don't you tell this lowly one here how to give your life meaning." said a sarcastic Kin as she rolled her eyes in disgust.

"I see, if that's how you want to act… I'm leaving." sighed Haku as she got up from her chair and as she headed to the door she added "Oh and to answer your question. When you find someone precious you wish to protect. You'll be able to find what mere survival can't offer you."

"And just what is that?" asked Kin as she moved over to the side of the bed, wrinkling the sheets as she did so.

Once Haku was only a few inches front the door she stopped and looked over her shoulder at Kin before she said "Happiness."

With that one final word Haku opened the door and left, for the next several minutes Kin just stared blankly at the door while she thought _'Happiness?! How can happiness give me meaning in my life?'_

(Later That Evening)

Kushina sighed in frustration as she jumped from rooftop to rooftop in a vein attempt to locate Naruto. She landed on a tiled rooftop and looked up at the Hokage monument before she thought _'Damn it Naruto-kun! Where the hell are you?!'_

Kushina's thought were cut short when she suddenly felt a familiar presence. She closed her eyes and sighed "Shouldn't you be off training that UCHIHA?"

Kakashi landed right next to Kushina and said "Hokage-sama ordered that he be placed under observation for twenty-four hours to make sure the reinforced seal will hold. So I can't start training him until tomorrow."

"And you think that gives you the right to pester me?" snarled Kushina as she shifted her gaze to Kakashi.

Kakashi ignored Kushina's gaze and looked up at the Hokage monument as he said "I'm sorry about that, but I can't find Rin anywhere. I was hoping you could tell me where I could find her."

"Raven." quickly corrected Kushina as she shifted her gaze to the monument.

"What?" asked Kakashi as he turned to look at Kushina only to see that she had returned to looking at the Hokage Monument.

Kushina's gaze never left the Monument as she said "Her name is Raven. If anyone else were to think differently…"

"I understand, but I still need to talk to her. So could you please tell me where she is." said Kakashi as he turned backed and admired the orange glow the setting sun gave the stone Hokage faces.

Kushina took a deep breath before she sighed "Look Kakashi, if she wanted you to find her, you would have found her by now. So why don't you give it a rest."

Kakashi turned toward Kushina and said "Give it a rest? How can you say that Kushina-san? I just found out that a person I care for, who I thought was dead for nearly fifteen years, is alive and you expect me to give it a rest!"

"No… I don't, but I won't give you the answers you seek. For those you'll have to talk to Raven." said Kushina before she took off again in search of Naruto.

(Later that evening in a secluded part of Konoha)

Kabuto came out of a dark ally and leaned his back up against the nearby wall before he adjusted his glasses and said "I'm glad to see that you made it."

A moment later Baki landed directly next to Kabuto and said "Are you sure it's wise to meet out in the open like this? We run the risk of the plan being uncovered."

"Not to worry, my master has already taken the necessary precautions. The plan won't be uncovered. But an unforeseen problem has occurred Heh, heh, heh." said Kabuto as he got a small grin on his face.

Baki turned to face Kabuto before he asked "An unforeseen problem?"

"Yes apparently there's a shinobi taking the exam that has become quite the thorn in our sides. So during the finals we'd like Gaara to incapacitate him for us." said Kabuto as he looked up at the full moon.

Baki got a curious look on his face and said "Incapacitate? When Gaara's involved death usually follows. But if you keep getting thorns in your side Suna will be forced to withdraw it's support."

"Well the truth be told he doesn't know anything about the plan. He's just pissed my master off that's all." said Kabuto as he hardened his gaze and looked over at Baki.

Baki straightened his posture and said "Suna will not make a move until the very end. This is the will of Kazekage-sama."

Meanwhile safely hidden behind an adjacent building Hayate heard every single word. Hayate narrowed his eyes as he thought _'So Hokage-sama was right. Suna is in league with Orochimaru.'_

Kabuto pulled out a scroll and handed it over to Baki as he said "Here this is the blueprint for our plans. Make sure you pass that information along to your subordinates soon. Otherwise this will all be for nothing."

Baki took the scroll from Kabuto and put it in his pouch as he said "Sure."

"Then that concludes our business for tonight…" said Kabuto as he turned to leave.

From his hiding spot Hayate watched the two closely as he thought _'I have to let Hokage-sama know that his information is indeed valid._ (as he starts to move some gravel crunches under his feet) _Shit!'_

Kabuto immediately stops and looks in the direction of the noise as he said "Oh and one more thing. I'll take care of the clean up. Wouldn't want our meeting to become public knowledge now would we?"

"No I'll do it. Since we have an alliance the least I can do is lead a helping hand. Besides… it just a little fish, how hard could it be?!" said Baki as he headed of in pursuit of Hayate.

A short distance later at Kikyo Castle the two of them met up. Once on the rounded roof Baki got a good look at the spy. He got a smile on his face as he said "Well, well… if it isn't the proctor from the chunin exams. What are you doing in a place like this all alone?"

Hayate grabbed the handle of his sword and he said "I guess I have no choice but to fight. (cough,cough)"

He then pulled out his sword and made a quick hand-seal before he shouted "Ninpo: Mikadzuki no Mai!" (Ninja Art: Dance of the Crescent Moon)

Suddenly three Hayate's appeared and attacked from all sides. Baki was caught off guard by this move and the real Hayate was able to imbed his sword into Baki's shoulder. Hayate's eyes widened in surprise when his blade didn't penetrate to far into his opponent while he thought _'Why can't I pull my blade out?!'_

Baki brought his left hand over and grabbed the blade as a smile appeared on his face before he said "That was Mikadzuki no Mai. I'm impressed that one so young has mastered such a technique. This village sure has it's players lined up, that's for sure. But a physical blade can be halted, however a blade of wind… cannot."

Baki then made a slight movement with his right hand as he started to gather his chakra. But before he could finish the jutsu a sword blade came out of his chest. Suddenly Yuugao's ANBU mask appears out of the darkness next to Baki's face and said "It's seems that you trick can only work if you see it coming."

Baki's lips curls into a smile before his body turns to sand and dissolves to the ground. Yuugao snapped her wrist to get the sand off of her blade and as she sheathed her sword she said "Switched with a Suna Bunshin and made his escape, humph coward."

Yuugao scanned the area and found no traces of the Suna shinobi. She then removed her mask and looked over at Hayate before a smile appeared on her face and said "Looks like I saved your ass again, huh Hayate-kun? Your just lucky I had to take the roundabout way to meet with Kushina-sama at the Senji compound."

Hayate quickly checked the blade of his sword for any form of damage before he sheathed it and then returned Yuugao's gaze as he said "(Cough, cough) Don't think I'm not grateful or anything. But do you think it wise for us to meet out in the open like this? I mean if Kushina-sama found out she tear us a new one."

"That a mute point now that I've been found out. But enough about that, lets get out of here before the search parties come by this way. I have to let Kushina-sama know what I've found out." said Yuugao as she motioned for Hayate to follow her and then jumped off into the night.

"Search parties? (cough, cough)" said Hayate before he just shrugged his shoulders and jumped off the roof and went after Yuugao.

(Ichiraku Ramen Stand)

Kushina shoved the drape aside before she looked back at the man behind the counter and said "Thanks for your time, and if you see Naruto-kun could you please tell him I'm looking for him."

"Sure thing Kushina-san." said Teuchi as he waved her goodbye and then went back to cooking his customers orders.

As Kushina walked down the dimly lit street she let out a sigh as she thought _'Damn Naruto-kun, when you don't want to be found, you don't want to be found. I've already looked all over the village and there's still no sign of you. Just where are you hiding yourself.'_

Just then Kushina saw Anko come out of a Dango shop, that was a few feet ahead of her. She got a smile on her face and shouted "Anko-chan!"

With a dango stick in her mouth Anko got a curious look on her face and turned to see who would be foolish enough to call her that. But once she saw Kushina she said "What do you want?"

"I need your help. I've been looking for Naruto-kun for hours and I still can't find him. So do you know anywhere he might go when he wants to think things through?" said Kushina.

Anko started to play with the dango stick in her mouth as she thought about this, and after a few moments she eyed Kushina skeptically and asked "And why would he need to think things through?"

Kushina got a small smile on her face and said "Well you see Haku-san told him how she felt and he went into shock. Then while I was dealing with Kakashi Naruto-kun went off somewhere and I can't find him. It's been hours and I'm starting to get a little worried so any help you offer would be helpful."

Anko nodded her head in agreement as she said "Alright I'll help you find the Gaki. Have you tried Ichiraku yet?"

"Just came from there and they haven't seen him at all today anywhere else?" asked Kushina as she pointed behind her in the direction of the ramen stand.

"Well how about the Hokage Monument? I know when he feels bad he always ends up there?" suggested Anko as she nodded her head towards the Hokage Monument.

"Been there." said Kushina as she shook her head.

"Uh, what about his old apartment?" asked Anko as she was running out of places that Naruto would run to when he wanted to be alone.

"Checked no was there, apparently it was condemned after a fire a decade ago." sighed Kushina as she slumped her shoulders in defeat.

"Oh yeah I remember that now." said Anko as she got a menacing smile on her face as she added "Heh, heh, heh, I can still remember the screams of those responsible once I got a hold of them. Anyway there is only one place left he could be…"

(Forest of Death)

In a large red wood tree next to the river that ran through the Forest, Naruto sat on the top branch of the tree and rested his back on the trunk of the tree as he tried to ignore Kyuubi's rant.

"**Kit why the hell did you just stand there like a statue after she told you how she feels?! You passed up a great opportunity to tell her how you feel! What the hell is wrong with you?!" **shouted Kyuubi as she rattled the bars of her cage to get his attention.

Naruto tilted his head back until it rested on the trunk of the tree, he then closed his eyes as he said "I just don't understand. How can Haku-chan love me?"

"Because you have a kind and caring heart." came Kushina's reply as she landed in front of Naruto. She then got a soft smile on her face and asked "Mind if I join you?"

Naruto motioned his hand to indicate that she could if she wanted too, and as she sat down on the branch beside of him he said "My kind heart? Ha! Why would that cause her to love me? After all I am a Jinchuuiki, and who would want to love a demon vessel?"

Kushina hardened her gaze and slapped him upside the head before she shouted "Would you just listen to yourself! Who would love you?! What about Tsunade-sama, Shizuna-san, Anko-chan and… myself? They knew all about the seal long before you ever did and yet they still love you. So what's the problem?"

"THAT'S DIFFERENT! They're family, besides Haku-chan…" snapped Naruto before he lowered his head and in a soft voice said "…wants to be more."

Kushina noticed the fear in his eyes as he said this and got a concerned look on her face as she asked "Naruto-kun, what are you so afraid of? Haku-san has already told you how she feels. So what's really keeping you from doing the same?"

Naruto keep his head down so that his hair covered his eyes and in a low voice said "How… how can I ask Haku-chan to live a life of misery and… hatred? A life where her life would always be in jeopardy."

"Naruto-kun, Haku-san is a shinobi. She knows the risks of the life we live and still wants to share her life with you." said Kushina as she put her left hand on his shoulder.

Naruto shrugged Kushina's hands off of his shoulder and hardened his gaze at Kushina as he snapped "You just don't get it! Our lifestyle has nothing to do with it!! No matter where I choose to live, once people found out what I am, Haku-chan would be… How can I ask Haku-chan to live a life were she's not only in danger out in the field but also at home? At the very place she's suppose to be safe!!"

Kushina got a sad look on her face and this time put her arm around Naruto. She gave him a half hug and in a calm voice said "You know there is a place that wouldn't judge you because of what you are. You could live there with Haku-san and feel completely safe and never have to worry about people trying to hurt you or anyone you care about."

Naruto looked up into Kushina's eyes as he said "You're talking about Kumori aren't you?"

Kushina nodded her head in agreement as she said "Yes, but we'll talk about that later. What we need to talk about right now, is why you're so afraid to open up to Haku-san."

Naruto kept his head lowered and was quiet for a few minutes until he sighed "Part of me is happy to know she loves me, while another part is very apprehensive about the hole thing. I've never felt like this before and don't know what to do. I really want to let Haku-chan in, but I just feel like something is holding me back."

Kushina's gaze softened and she tightened her one armed hug as she softly said "What's holding you back is fear. Your afraid that once you let her in she might find something that will cause her to reject you. Look Naruto-kun, I can't tell you what you should do but I can tell you this: In our line of work people like Haku-san are rare. Despite her difficult past she still has a kind and caring nature, and it's this nature that has allowed her to see all that is wonderful about you. She knows all about Kyuubi and she still cares for you. Don't pass up an opportunity like this, you may never get another chance to find someone who cares about you as like Haku-san does. So open up your heart and give her a chance, trust me the rewards are well worth the risk… son."

She immediately regretted trying out that word as Naruto stiffened and then removed her arm from his shoulder as he said "Sorry, but I'm not quite ready to take that step yet."

"I understand." sighed a saddened Kushina as a frown crossed her face while she lowered her head.

After a few moments of silence Kushina looked over at Naruto and said "But don't let my foolishness take away from what I told you. Like I said you already know she cares about you. So the question is do you have the courage to tell her how you feel or are you going to back down and give up?"

A slight smile appeared on Naruto's face as he said "Hah, Are you trying to use my nindo against me now?"

Kushina let her lips curl into a smile as she shrugged her shoulders and playfully said "Maybe?"

Naruto shook his head and chuckled a little before he said "You didn't need to go that far. I already got what you were trying to tell me. In order for me to have the rewards of a normal life some risks will be involved, right?"

Kushina nodded her head as her warm smile got even bigger and she said "In a manner of speaking but it's the rewards of YOUR life, not a normal life, never forget that Naruto-kun. Now come on let's get going. It's getting late and I'm sure Haku-san is starting to get a little anxious about your feelings about her."

"Alright, but before we go, there's something I need to take care of." said Naruto while both of them stood up. Once on his feet Naruto looked over at a nearby tree and shouted "You can come out now Anko-neechan! There's something I need to ask you!"

Anko came out of hiding and landed in front of the pair before she put her hands on her hips and said "How the hell did you know I was there Gaki?! I used my best stealth moves to keep myself hidden!"

Naruto got a sheepish look on his face as he rubbed the back of his head before he said "Heh, heh, heh, A little fox told me."

He then got a serious look on his face and said "Anyway there something important I want to ask you. Is it ok if I break my promise?"

Anko got a curious look on her face as she asked "Promise? What are you talking about Gaki?"

"Well for awhile now I've wanted to give Haku-chan a gift. Now I've got the chance to give her something that will show her that I really care about her, and the only thing I can really think of is one of my most prized possession. So please tell me that it's ok that I break my promise." said Naruto as he got a hopeful look in his eyes.

"One of your most prized possession?" asked Anko as she tilted her head to the left in curiosity.

Naruto brought his right hand up to his neck and took the necklace that Anko gave him on his fifth birthday and said "This, I want to give it to Haku-chan, I think that it will show how sincere I am, but in order to do that I'd have to break the promise I made you when you gave it back to me."

Anko was taken back by this, she never imagined that such a simple little thing like that would be so important to him. She got a serious look on her face and playfully said "Well I don't know… I did give that to you for your birthday after all. The penalty for breaking your promise to me is quite severe, but I'll let it slide if you answer one question."

Naruto did a quick gulp when Anko let a menacing grin cross her face before he asked "What's the question?"

"Do you love her?" said Anko as seriously as she possibly could while keeping a straight face.

"Uh… well I care about her a great deal and…" said Naruto before he was interrupted by Anko, who put her hand on his head and ruffling his hair slightly as a huge grin appeared on her face and she said "AAAAHHH, the little Gaki's got a girlfriend now. I guess I could give you some pointers so you know how to treat a girl right. Wouldn't want you to be like some of the losers I've gone out with."

Naruto shoved Anko's hand off of his head and snapped "Would you cut that out!! I'm being serious here! Will you let me break my promise or not?"

"Well if you really care about her I guess it will be ok. But I want all the details of your first date, after all I'll need blackmail material for later, right?" said the still smiling Anko as she rubbed the back of her head.

Naruto looked down at the tree branch and closed his eyes as he sighed "Ah crap, I now I'm going to regret this later, but it's a deal."

Kushina couldn't help but smile as the two shook hands before she brought her hands together and said "Alright you two I think we've wasted enough time here. Now lets get back, Naruto-kun's got to get up early tomorrow and start his training."

Both of them simply nodded their heads before all of them took off towards the Senji compound.

(A short time later)

Naruto, Anko, and Kushina approached the main house of the Senji Compound when Naruto noticed Haku picking some of the herbs that were growing in the garden off to the right of the house. Kushina walked up behind him and gave him a little shove towards the garden as she said "Go on you wanted to tell her how you feel, right?"

Naruto looked over his shoulder at Kushina and said "I'm going, I'm going, don't rush me."

When Naruto started to walk towards the garden he suddenly heard Anko shout "Go and get her Gaki!! Show us that you're not a spineless wimp!"

Naruto dragged his right hand down over his face as he mumbled "This is so embarrassing."

But the time Naruto's hand cleared his eyes Haku had already turned to face him. When he looked into her eyes all he could see was fear and doubt, and realized that she too had the same uncertainties that he did. Once he was only a few feet from Haku he rubbed that back of his head while he said "Hey… Haku-chan, first I just wanted to say sorry for standing there like an idiot when you told me how you feel."

"That's ok Naruto-kun, I…, I shouldn't have kiss you before I told you how I felt. I went too far." mumbled Haku as she kept her eyes fixed on the ground.

"YOU'RE WRONG!" shouted Naruto before he gabbed her chin and lifted it up until their eyes made contact. Once their eyes were locked Naruto calmly added "That was just the jolt I needed. It made me realize just how important you are to me."

Haku's eyes widened as a hopeful look appeared on her face and she said "You mean."

With his hand still under her chin Naruto got a smile on his face as he nodded his head while he said "That's right Haku-chan I feel the same way you do, and to prove it I've got a present for you."

"Naruto-kun?" asked Haku as a curious look appeared on her face as she saw Naruto reach behind his neck and unclasp something.

"I want you to have this." said Naruto as he took off the necklace that Anko had given him so long ago. As he presented Haku with it he added "This was the first real present I ever got, and means a great deal to me. So I can't think of anything better to give you."

"Naruto-kun I…, I don't know what to say." said Haku as her cheeks burned a bright red.

"Just tell me that you'll accept my present." pleaded Naruto as he kept his hand out offering the necklace to Haku, and breathed a sigh of relief when she nodded her head and moved her dark hair aside for Naruto.

Naruto then moved behind Haku and put the necklace around her neck and clasped it together. As he took a step back he said "I hope you like it."

Haku turned around and looked at the necklace for a moment before she wrapped her arms around Naruto's neck, and gave him a hug as she said "Oh Naruto-kun, I love it."

Naruto blushed a deep shade of red and rubbed the back of his head as he thought _'I guess I could get use to this.'_ "Hey Haku-chan, how about when this is all over, I take you out somewhere nice?"

Haku snuggled into Naruto's neck as she replied "I'd love to."

"Well what do we have here?! I've only been cooped up in the hospital's library for one day, and you two are already this close! Maybe I should have done that sooner huh?" said a smiling Tsunade as she came through the main gate to the compound with Shizune trailing behind her.

Shizune got a stern look on her face as she said "Tsunade-sama! Show some restraint will you! I'm sure it's hard enough for Naruto-kun without you teasing him."

"Relax Shizune, Naru-chan tougher than that. Besides don't they just look so CUTE together." replied Tsunade as she continued up the stone walkway until she was only a few feet away from the pair.

"KAASAN!! You're embarrassing me!!" shouted Naruto as Haku broke off the hug and started to move her right foot back and forth as she suddenly found the ground really interesting.

But before anyone else could embarrass them further Yuugao and Hayate landed by the main gate just inside the compound. Before either of them could say anything Kushina shouted "What the hell are you two doing here?! And together no less!!"

Both of them dropped to one knee and lowered their heads before Yuugao replied "Our apologies Kushina-sama, but unforeseen events led us to this circumstance."

"Unforeseen events?" inquired Kushina as she crossed her arms and waited for an answer.

Yuugao's head remained bowed as she said "Yes Kushina-sama, I managed to discover that Danzou is after Yondaime-sama prized technique HIRAISHIN NO JUTSU (Flying Thunder God Technique), but once I learned of this I was discovered and with the help of a strange black cloaked figure I was able to fight my way out."

"A black cloaked figure? Why did he help you escape?" asked a curious Kushina as she brought her right hand up to her chin.

"All he told me was that he had his reasons. I'm sorry Kushina-sama but that's all I know." replied Yuugao as she lowered her head a little further in an apologetic manner.

Kushina nodded her head before she turned to Hayate and asked "And what's your excuse?"

"(Cough, cough) Hokage-sama ordered me to trail the Suna instructor and find out if the information he received was accurate. (Cough, cough) after following him for awhile he met up with Kabuto and was giving the blueprints for their attack on Konoha. Unfortunately I was discovered soon after and force to make my escape if Yuugao hadn't shown up when she did I surely would have died fighting that Suna shinobi. (cough, cough) He's stronger than he looks." reported Hayate.

Naruto walked over to Kushina and asked "So now that Suna knows that we know about their alliance with Oto. Do you think they'll withdraw their support?"

"No they won't, Orochimaru's already seen to that." came the voice of Jiraiya aa he landed in the middle of the group.

Jiraiya then turned to face Naruto and got a serious look on his face before he said "Next time tell me when you plan to cancel you Kage Bunshin, ok. You had me worried for a little while until I found out the reason."

Naruto rubbed the back of his head and replied "Yeah, sorry about that. I just had a lot on my mind at the time."

Before Jiraiya could say anything further Kushina grabbed him by the shoulder, and spun him around as she said "What the hell do you mean when you said Suna won't pull out?"

Jiraiya's serious look remained as he looked his gaze on Kushina and said "Because Orochimaru has already killed the Kazekage and taken his place."

"That's impossible Jiraiya! No way he could get away with that, at least not without someone finding out!" shouted Tsunade as she walked over and poked Jiraiya in the chest several times.

Jiraiya pushed Tsunade's finger aside and in a serious tone of voice said "Whether you believe it or not doesn't change the face that he pulled it off. But that's not the worst of it."

He then pulled out a scroll and opened it to reveal that it was a map of Konoha. He the pointed to three area outside the village walls and said "He plans to set up three summoning teams here, here and here. Each group will be protected by two squads of Jonin, both teams will be positioned between the group and Konoha. If all three teams manage to summon really powerful creators Konoha will be in big trouble."

Jiraiya then pointed to each of the gate that allowed entry into the village and added "Their main attack force will be divided up so that all the gates will be hit at once. If Konoha doesn't properly prepare for this attack they will have a tough time defending themselves."

"How the hell did you get all of this Jiraiya!?" shouted Kushina as she stared at him in disbelief.

Jiraiya got a sly smile on his face and replied "I have my sources."

Naruto looked down at the map and pointed to the wooded and rocky areas behind two of the summoning locations and asked "What about these areas? Will the enemy have any troops there?"

"According to my information no. Nobody's been there for at least a hundred years, so Orochimaru knows that there are no patrols that far out. Why do you want to know that anyway Naruto?" replied Jiraiya as he looked at Naruto, curious as to what the boy had in mind.

"Perfect." replied Naruto as a smile formed on his face before he added "Then why don't we set up some of our troops in these areas. That way we can take them by surprise. And seeing as how they will be so close to the walls it should be easy for us to sneak troops in the dense forest that's behind them and wait for the right moment to strike."

Kushina nodded her head in agreement before she turned to Naruto and said "Not a bad plan, but let me ask you this. What will keep them from discovering our forces before we launch our surprise attack?"

Naruto crossed his arms and thought about this for a moment before he said "Well we could use Ero-sennin's invisibility jutsu. That way we'd go undetected until the right moment."

"Invisibility jutsu?" questioned both Kushina and Tsunade as they turned to look at Jiraiya just in time to see him waving his arms frantically and he mouthed the word no.

Naruto nodded his head and replied "Yeah apparently he uses it on his research missions and has never been caught while it was activated."

"Oh REALLY?" said Tsunade as she cracked her knuckles and gave Jiraiya a harsh glare.

Jiraiya slapped his own forehead before he got a sheepish look on his face as he said "Now, now it's not the way it sounds."

Tsunade cracked her knuckles one more time as she said "I'll bet, but I'm willing to let you off the hook this time if you agree to teach it to us so we can use it for the stealth attack, and I want your promise that you'll never use it again while doing your RESEARCH."

Jiraiya gulped as he replied "You're going to beat me to a pulp if I don't agree aren't you?"

"Oh worse than that, how about I hog tie you and leave you in the female ANBU locker room with a note that tells them just who's been peaking on them at the hot spring?" said Tsuande as she got a wicked grin on her face.

Jiraiya's eyes got as big as saucers and he took several steps back, fear clearly plastered all over his face, before he said "You wouldn't?!"

"Try me." replied Tsunade's grin took on a more sinister appearance and an evil looked appeared in her eye.

After a moment of contemplation Jiraiya gulped at the implications of Tsunade's threat before he slumped his shoulders and reluctantly said "Ok I'll do it."

"Good." replied Tsunade as she got a genuine smile on her face and gave Kushina a nod.

Kushina nodded back before she said "Alright now that that's settled. Hayate I want you to tell Sarutobi everything you discovered about the Suna shinobi, but leave out all details surrounding our planned sneak attack on Oto understood?"

"Hai (cough, cough)" replied Hayate as he took off toward the Hokage tower.

Kushina then turned to Jiraiya and asked "Can I trust that you won't tell anyone about our little plan?"

"Don't worry, your secret is safe. Though I will tell him everything my contacts have told me." replied Jiraiya as he crossed his arms over his chest.

"That fine." said Kushina as she nodded in agreement. She then turned to the Naruto and Haku, and added "You two better get your rest tonight. Because starting tomorrow we begin our month long training. We're going to work you into the ground, because in one month… we're going to teach that little snake BASTARD that he messed with the wrong family."

Next Chapter: The Finals begin: Haku vs. Shikamaru!

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Author's note2: Well thus ends my longest chapter to date. I hope you all enjoyed and yes I plan to have a time skip and go straight to the finals in the next chapter. Hope to see you all next time.


	27. The Finals Begin: Haku vs Shikamaru!

"Speech"

'_Thoughts'_

**Demon/Summon/inner Sakura speech**

_**Demon/Summon thoughts**_

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or any of the characters created by Kishimoto, but all OC's are my own creation.

123PIKACHU: Yup he's working for Kushina.

ares88: You're right my Naruto is smarter (but not a genius) than the Naruto that's in cannon, and I have that due to his upbringing. While cannon Naruto developed his body and ninjutsu skills, he neglected to develop his brain muscle. In my story Tsunade didn't allow this to happen when Naruto was younger one of the things she focused on was developing his mind, it wasn't easy to be sure, but she kept at it until he was at the level he is know.

MadaMag: Actually Naruto has basically forgiven Kushina and realizes that it wasn't her fault. The reason he's so reluctant to accept Kushina as his mother if because of his relationship with Tsunade. Right now he feels like he would be betraying Tsunade, who is one of his most precious people, but over time he'll come to realize that this isn't the case and will come to see her as a second mother (this will take time however)

Narutomaniac: Naruto's training did cover speed as well as working on adding his wind element to a jutsu, I go into a little more detailed in the beginning of this chap as it reviews the previous month.

Author's Note: Man it's been over a year since I started this fic and I'm only about halfway through, but don't worry I plan on finishing this story no matter how long it takes. First I want to say sorry about the delay but I had a hard time with the fights in this Chapter but I'd like to thank Maneyan and Sweet Heavens for their help with the fights.

Now on with the story

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Chapter 27: The Finals Begin: Haku vs. Shikamaru!

It has been one month since the end of the second part of the Chuunin Exams and Naruto and Haku have been busy. Every morning Kushina woke them up at around 5 AM and had a three hour spar, which mainly focused on speed, coordinated attacks and most importantly stamina, with them before they stopped for breakfast. Then they would split off into two groups: Zabuza would take Haku and work on controlling her Kekkei Genkai better, while Kushina took Naruto and worked on combining his wind element with a jutsu of his choosing, obviously he chose the Rasengan.

About two weeks after Naruto and Haku started their training Tsunade successfully completed Lee's surgery and once she was sure he was out of danger she joined Kushina in training Naruto while Shizune helped train Haku. Needless to say that both of them were completely worn out by the end of each day, yes they even pushed Naruto to his limit.

Now as the sun crests over the Hokage Mountain on the designated day we find Naruto, with Haku right beside him, and the others walking down a crowded street that lead to the Chuunin Exam stadium. Naruto looked from one side of the street to the other and noticed all the different types of people ranging from civilians to shinobi, from other villages, that have come to see the finals. He whistled in amazement as he saw all the commerce going on and as he felt the festival like atmosphere around him he said "Wow! I never realized that the Chuunin Exams were such a big deal."

Kushina got a smile on her face and said "The Chuunin Exam finals have always been a big draw, many nobles and Daimyos come to enjoy and bet on the matches."

When Shizune heard what Kushina said she cringed and suddenly got very scared before she slowly turned her head to look at Tsunade. The moment she saw Tsunade rub her hands together and get a greedy glint in her eyes, Shizune then got a look of absolute horror on her face as she heard Tsunade say "All those RICH nobles and Daimyos betting on their own shinobi. Heh, heh, heh, I'M GOING TO MAKE A FORTUNE!!"

Naruto slapped his forehead with his right hand and shook his head slightly before he sighed "You're hopeless, you know that Kaasan. With your horrible luck at gambling you'll probably LOSE a fortune."

Tsunade got a look of mock pain on her face before she playfully said "It pains me to see that you think so little of me Naru-chan. I only plan to focus all my bets on yours and Haku-san's matches anyway. So there's no way I'm going to lose!"

Naruto nearly tripped over his own feet when he heard this but before he could respond a figure jumped off of a nearby roof and went straight for Naruto. Naruto quickly signaled the others to stay back and just before the figure made contact he grabbed the figures arm and then rotated his body so that he slammed the attacker into the ground. Naruto then placed a kunai at the attacker's neck and waited a few moments before he got a grin on his face and said "It's been awhile… hasn't it Yugito?"

Yugito got a little pout on her face as she said "Damn! And I was sure I'd get you this time."

"This time? Since when was there a first time?" inquired a curious Naruto as he pulled his kunai away from her throat before he got to his feet.

Yugito got to her feet and dusted herself off as she said "Well… actually there really never was a first time but I thought it would be fun to try."

"O…K…, but seriously what are you doing here?" asked Naruto as he looked Yugito directly in the eyes, to make sure she understood the real reason for this question, while he put his kunai back in his pouch.

Yugito gave Naruto an innocent look and said "What? I just came to see the finals, that's all. Raikage-sama wanted someone to report on how much stronger you've become since our little encounter in Wave. I volunteered my services, so here I am."

"Right." said a sarcastic Naruto before he got a serious look on his face and added "You're just lucky we could tell it was you before you attacked…"

Naruto then pointed over at Tsunade and Kushina, both of whom had an aggravated expression on their faces, before he continued "…Because I don't think you would have gotten off the roof before one of them intercepted you."

When Yugito locked eyes with both Tsunade and Kushina, they give her a harsh glare, while both of them tapped their left foot on the ground. Yugito got a sheepish look on her face when she felt the K.I. coming off the pair, and said "Sorry I just wanted to have a little fun before the FINALS that's all."

A moment after Yugito finished speaking two Chuunin guards landed in front of the group, both of them were dressed in standard Chuunin attire, one had short black hair while the other wore a pair of glasses with wild red hair. The red haired Chuunin stepped forward and in a harsh tone of voice said "Is there a problem here?"

Naruto crossed his arms over his chest and said "Humph, typical, whenever I'm involved the response here always seems to be a bit slow."

"Watch your mouth kid! We don't let our personal feelings interfere with out job!" snapped the black haired Chuunin as he moved up to stand next to his partner.

Naruto hardened his gaze before he looked at both of the Chuunin Guards and said "Well my PERSONAL experience says otherwise."

It was at this point that Tsunade put her hand on Naruto's shoulder as she said "Behave yourself Naru-chan, just tell them that there's no problem so we can get on our way."

"What?! You can't be serious!" whined Naruto as his eyes widened in shock before he looked at Tsunade in disbelief while the two Chuunin just got smirks on their faces.

Tsunade noticed the smirks on the two Chuunin's faces so she got a smirk of her own as she looked Naruto in the eyes and said "Now don't get me wrong Naru-chan I completely agree with you on 'the lack of response this place gives us,' but I want you to think about this first. If word got around, before your fight in the finals, that you beat up two Chuunin, than the odds would shift in your favor and everyone would want to put money down on you. Meaning that I would be making less money when you won. So why don't we let this one slide, that way you save them the embarrassment of getting their asses kicked by a Genin and I can get my money. Everyone wins!"

Naruto's jaw dropped open and he stood there for a moment before he rubbed the bridge of his nose and sighed "You have a point Kaasan, it WOULD be a waste of my time, but you need to stop thinking with your empty wallet. I can't bail you out of every debt you have you know."

Tsunade put her hands on her hips and said "Since you brought that subject up. How the hell do you bail me out of some of those debts? I know for a fact you couldn't be carrying that much money on you, so spill it!"

'_Oh shit! I can't tell her about that! She'd kill me if she found out what I let them do with that money.' _thought a nervous Naruto as a trickle of sweat ran down his brow before he calmed his face and said "That's a secret. Anyway don't you think we should focus on the matter of the two Chuunin's at hand?"

"You're right I suppose, but don't think this lets you off the hook." sighed Tsunade before she got a stern look on her face and turned to face the two Chuunin as she said "Now as for you two. You can already see that there's no trouble here, so why don't you run along before I get mad. Got it?"

When the two Chuunin saw the fierce look in Tsunade's eyes they quickly nodded their heads, afraid that they were going to get the beating of their life, before they scurried off to continue their guard duties leaving behind a very smug Tsunade who had put her hands on her hips. She then clapped her hands against each other, as though she was getting some dirt off, as she said "Well… that takes care of that."

Kushina walked up behind Tsunade and patted her on the shoulder while she said "I think those two nearly pissed themselves when you gave them that look. What do you say we pick up our pace and make it to the arena before anything else happens?"

"Good idea, I want to get there with plenty of time to place my bets. Alright everyone! Let's get moving and show this village just how stupid they really are!" shouted Tsunade before she headed off toward the arena with the others in tow.

As the group entered the stadium, Naruto marveled at the sheer size of the stadium as he looked at the circular arena and noticed that it had an open area in the center with groups of trees spread throughout the outer portion, so that the two combatants had plenty of places to hide and launch a sneak attack, a small pond was off to the right rear of the arena so those shinobi who use Suiton jutsu's would have a water source, and finally he looked up and noticed the open dome that aloud a fresh breeze to blow through the stadium. Indeed this stadium has been set up so that no one had an advantage.

When Naruto finished his scan of the arena he turned to Haku and got a smile on his face as he said "Well… What do you think Haku-Chan?"

Haku got a smile on her face as her eyes focused on Naruto before she said "I think it's a good think that we won't face each other until the FINAL match. With everything available down there we'd probable destroy the whole arena be the time we were done."

Naruto's smile got a little bigger and nodded his head slightly as he rubbed the back of his head before he chuckled "You're probably right there. Our spars do tend to wreak havoc with our surroundings, don't they?"

"Just remember what your training was REALLY for." warned Kushina as she walked up behind the pair.

Naruto turned to face Kushina before he gave her his fox like smile and said "Don't worry, we haven't forgotten. But that doesn't mean we can't have some fun beforehand."

When Kushina saw Haku nod her head in agreement she got a smile on her face and chuckled slightly before she said "Just make sure that you don't have too much fun alright. Now get going, the opening ceremony will start in a few minutes, and we wouldn't want you to be late."

After Naruto and Haku headed off toward the arena floor for the opening ceremonies Raven landed next to Kushina and said "I think they'll be just fine."

Kushina nodded her head before she turned to look at Raven and once she made eye contact with Raven she said "You're right, they've improved a great deal since their training began. But enough about that… how is everything else proceeding?"

Raven quickly scanned the area and when she saw that no one was within ear shot she whispered "Right on schedule."

"Good, I guess that means all we have to do now is wait for the festivities to begin." said Kushina before her smile returned and she motioned Raven to follow her as she added "Now come on. Tsunade-sama managed to pull some strings, and got us permission to watch the matches from the waiting room balcony. So let's hurry the opening ceremony should be starting soon."

(Hokage Booth)

Sarutobi leaned back in his chair, with his personal aid taking his position behind him, as he watched all of the participants enter the arena when he noticed that one of them was missing, so he thought _'Hmm, It appears that Kakashi and Sasuke haven't arrived yet. I wonder what could be keeping them. I really hope that he didn't teach Sasuke the Chidori after all. Because if he did…'_

Sarutobi was suddenly brought out of his thoughts when he detected movement off to his right. When he looked in that direction he got a kind smile on his face and said "Ah… Welcome Kazekage-sama."

(Somewhere in the stands)

Baki hardened his gaze as he watched the Kazekage approach his seat next to the Hokage

As he reflected on his last conversation with his leader.

(Flashback-Kazekage office-Suna)

Baki knelt before the Kazekage, who was behind a transparent veil, with his eyes closed as he waited for the Kazekage to pass judgment.

The Kazekage remained silent for a few more seconds before he said "So you're telling me that Konoha has learned of our pact with Oto?"

"Yes Kazekage-sama, I went after the spy but had to withdraw when an ANBU operative showed up." replied Baki as he kept his head lowered.

The Kazekage shifted his position a little and calmly said "It is of little consequence. The plan will move forward as planned."

Baki's eyes opened in shock before his head snapped up and he shouted "You can't be serious Kazekage-sama! Surely by now Konoha has learned of our joint venture with Oto and are making plan to stop us!"

"Unlikely, sure they know that we allied ourselves with Oto, but I doubt that they have any idea what we're up too. So the plan remains unchanged UNDERSTOOD?" said The Kazekage as he hardened his gaze at Baki to indicate that this conversation is over.

Baki lowered his head in defeat and in a respectful tone of voice said "Hai Kazekage-sama."

(End Flashback)

Baki narrowed his eyes at the Kazekage as he thought _'I still can't believe you want to go through with this. I already told you that they have to know the whole plan by now and yet you still went along with it… Just what are you planning Kazekage-sama?'_

(Back in the Hokage's booth)

As the Kazekage sat in his seat Sarutobi looked over at him and said "You must be tired after such a long journey."

"Oh no… I was happy to make the trip. I'm just glad this Chuunin Exam was held here. Of course I know that you are still hale and hearty… but such a long trip surely would have been harder on you, Hokage-sama. Perhaps it time you chose a successor."

Sarutobi threw his head back in laughter, while his bodyguard got a solemn look on his face, as he chuckled "Don't bury me just yet! I still have a few more years left in me you know!"

Once Sarutobi stopped laughing he proceeded to stand up and as he got to his feet he said "Well then, we ought to begin…"

Sarutobi approached the balcony and looked at the jam packed stadium before he shouted "Ladies and gentlemen, esteemed guests… welcome and a heartfelt thanks for coming to Konohagakure for the CHUUNIN SELECTION EXAM!! We will now begin the final round, between the nine candidates who advanced in the preliminaries. Please sit back and enjoy!!"

"Nine Candidates? It seems you're missing one." said the Kazekage as he looked over at Sarutobi, who just got a serious look on his face and remained silent.

(Down on the Arena Floor)

Naruto looked to his left and then to his right, and noticed that Sasuke hadn't shown up yet. But before he could say anything the proctor stepped forward and said "Alright listen up I'm Shiranui Genma, and I'm going to be the proctor for the final part of the exam."

"Wait! What happened to Gekkou Hayate? I thought he was supposed to be the proctor for this exam?" interrupted Naruto as he raised his hand.

Genma focused his attention on Naruto and said "Hayate-san was reassigned so I was chosen to take his place, and I would appreciate it if you keep all your questions until after I'm done talking."

"Sorry I was just curious that's all." replied Naruto as he rubbed the back of his head in embarrassment.

Genma then turned his attention back to the whole group before he continued "Listen up, all of you. The landscape and surrounding terrain maybe different, but just like the prelims, there are no rules. You fight until one of you dies or admits defeat. Of course if I determine that a clear winner is apparent… then I'll stop the match before anyone is killed. Understand?"

Once Genma saw every one of the participants nod their head in agreement he got a serious look on his face and said "All right then the participants for match one, Haku and Nara Shikamaru. You two stay down here, the rest of you proceed to the waiting room outside of the arena."

As all the other participants made their way to the waiting room Naruto stopped right beside Haku and said "Good luck Haku-chan. Just remember that even though your opponent isn't very strong he's got a keen mind, so be on your guard."

"Don't worry Naruto-kun, with my good luck charm here. There's no way I'll allow myself to underestimate my opponent." said Haku as she got a smile on her face while she put her left hand around the necklace that Naruto had given her.

"Well then I guess there's nothing to worry about. So kick his ass and show everyone what you're made of!" said Naruto as he gave her a thumbs up before he jumped up to the balcony of the waiting room, grabbed a hold of the railing and twisted his body so that when his feet touched the ground he was already facing the arena.

Haku shook her head slightly at Naruto's antics before she turned her attention to Nara Shikamaru.

When Shikamaru saw that Haku had focused her attention on him, he slumped his shoulders in a depressed manner and mumbled "Man this is such a drag. Why did my match have to be first huh? And to top it all off I'm up against a girl again… ugh, maybe I should just withdraw."

Haku got an annoyed look on her face and narrowed her eyes at Shikamaru before she said "What's that suppose to mean? Are you saying that I'm not worth your time because I'm a girl?"

Shikamaru keep his hands in his pockets and kept a bored look on his face as he relied "Look it's nothing personal I just have a problem fighting girls. It's so troublesome really."

"Troublesome? How about I show you just how troublesome I can be?" said Haku as she narrowed her eyes and let a smile form on her face while she shifted into her fighting stance.

(Up in the Waiting Room)

Tsunade walked through the door leading to the waiting room, followed closely by Shizune, and spotted Naruto and the others off to the right. As she approached the group she heard Naruto say "That Nara boy is in trouble now. Haku-chan gets really annoyed when someone has an issue because she's a girl."

Kushina, who was standing beside Naruto, got a curios look on her face as she asked "Oh really? Are you speaking from personal experience here?"

"No he's not Kushina-san." interrupted Tsunade as she came up on the other side of Naruto before she continued "It happened in a small port town we visited just after we left Wave. If memory serves me, some moronic thug had made a comment about having a problem fighting a weak girl. As you can imagine she didn't take to kindly to that, and proceeded to show him that she was just as capable as he was."

A flash of realization crossed Shizune's face as she recalled the event; she then turned to look at Tsunade before she said "AH! I remember that fiasco! The subsequence brawl that followed was quite distressing. Don't you think so Naruto-kun?"

'_You have no idea Shizune-neechan, you have no idea_. _Besides… I really don't want to remember the fact that I'm the one that got stuck cleaning up that fiasco, after Kaasan decided to pull her disappearing act when the manager showed us the repair bill.' _thought Naruto, as he kept his attention on the two participants in the arena, before he sighed "Yeah I remember that ALL to well, but that's not important right now. It looks like the proctor is about to start the match."

(Back in the arena)

Shikamaru saw Haku get into her fighting stance before he turned his gaze skyward and thought _'What a drag. I have no desire to fight; I mean what's the point? Everyone came here to see Sasuke's match anyway. Why should I offer myself up in this poor substitute match anyway?'_

But before Shikamaru could voice his opinion Genma lowered his hand and shouted "BEGIN!!"

The moment Haku heard those words she went through a series of one handed hand-seals, which surprised many in the audience, before she slammed her left foot on the ground and caused some of the moisture trapped in the ground around Shikamaru to emerge. The moisture then started to condense and take the shape of senbon. Once the moisture turned to ice Haku focused her chakra as she said "Hyouton: Sensatsu Suishou!" (Ice style: Death by a Thousand Flying Water Needles)

Shikamaru narrowed his eyes as he watched all the needles head toward him. That's when he noticed an area, off to his right that had a smaller concentration of needles and decided to take that option. Just before they made contact he rolled out of the way, getting nicked by several of the needles in the process. But the moment Shikamaru came out of his roll, Haku delivered a hard right cross directly to his left cheek.

As the force of the blow knocked Shikamaru to the ground he made a simple hand-seal before he focused his chakra and said "Kage Mane no Jutsu." (Shadow Imitation Technique)

Haku's eyes widened in shock as she saw his shadow extend and head her way. She did a couple of back flips, and on the final back flip she threw a couple of senbon which grazed Shikamaru in the cheek and canceled his jutsu. As Shikamaru got to his feet he wiped a small trickle of blood from his cheek before he said "You know I don't really care if I become a Chuunin or not, but I can't stand the idea of losing to a girl, so I guess I'm in!"

Haku got a slight smile on her face as she said "So you finally decided to take this seriously, huh? I guess this means that I'm going to have to take it up a notch then." _'But the question is how do I neutralize that __Kage Mane no Jutsu__ of his? Close range fighting is out of the question; even with my speed he still might be able to nab me. My safest bet would be to fight him at a distance, but… maybe I can borrow a play from Naruto-kun's handbook.'_

"Mizu Bunshin no Jutsu!" (Water Clone Technique) said Haku as she did a couple of hand-seals and used the remaining moisture from her previous attack to create three water clones.

As the water solidified and started to take the shape of Haku, Shikamaru got a depressed look on his face as he thought _'Oh man…it was bad enough when I had to deal with just one girl. Now she's gone and created three more, but Mizu Bunshins are only supposed to have one/tenth the strength of the original. So maybe I can use that to my advantage.'_

When Shikamaru saw the three Mizu Bunshins charge in he made the necessary hand-seal before he said "Kage Nui." (Shadow Sewing)

The moment he finished channeling his chakra Shikamaru's shadow shot out and once in range of the Mizu Bunshins, tendrils came out of the shadow and pierced all three of the clones. As the clones dissolved into water Haku noticed that another part of his shadow stayed on the ground and went straight for her.

She managed to do a back-flip and get some distance from the shadow, but it just kept coming. As she entered her third back-flip Haku noticed that she was getting closer to arena's right wall, and that's when her eye's widened in realization as she remember the tactic Shikamaru used on his opponent in the prelims.

So the moment her feet touched the ground Haku immediately moved to her left just in time to avoid the shadow that came out from the arena wall's shadow. As she saw the shadow shrink back to Shikamaru, who had an aggravated look on her face, she got a smile on her face and said "Nice try, but I already saw that tactic before remember."

But the moment she tried to move Haku's eyes widened in shock as she discovered that her body wouldn't respond to her commands, before she said "W-What?"

Shikamaru got a smile on his face as he stood up and said "Ah… finally, my Kage Mane no Jutsu was a success."

(Waiting Room Balcony)

"Damn that kid's smarter than I gave him credit for. I didn't even think of that strategy." said Kushina as she watched the scene in front of her.

Naruto turned to look at Kushina before he asked "What are you talking about?"

Kushina got a serious look on her face as she pointed at Haku and said "What can you tell me about Haku-san's position on the field?"

Naruto turned his attention to where Haku was, he noted that she was far enough away from the walls shadow so that it wasn't a threat, she was also a good distance away from Shikamaru, and didn't see a connecting shadow anyway, but the moment he saw what was behind her his eye's widened in shock as she said "No bloody way!"

Kushina got a small smile on her face because Naruto was able to figured it out before she said "I see you noticed…"

(Back in the arena)

"How?" asked Haku as she narrowed her eyes at Shikamaru and thought _'Damn! I have to find a way out of this otherwise its over.'_

Shikamaru turned his head so that he could see what was behind him while he kept his eyes looked on Haku as he said "Go ahead I'll let you see what's behind you."

When Haku's head followed the same movements as Shikamaru, she looked behind herself and saw a tendril coming from the shadow of a tree that was about ten feet behind her. Haku's eyes widened in shock as she said "Damn! How could I let myself forget about the position of those trees?"

Shikamaru started to walk towards Haku, which resulted in Haku walking towards Shikamaru, and as they drew closer to each other Shikamaru's shadow moved around to the front so that he would use less chakra to maintain the jutsu.

As they continued to get closer to each other Haku tried desperately to make her body respond to her commands and when that didn't work she thought _'Come on THINK! There has to be a way out of this. I can't control my body but what about my Chakra?'_

Haku closed her eyes and concentrated on controlling her chakra, and when she felt no resistance and felt her chakra flow smoothly she thought _'Yes! I have a chance!'_

Shikamaru came to a stop when they were about five feet from each other, but the moment he was about to raise his hand he saw Haku's lips curl into a smile before she said "Hyouton: Koori Hei!" (Ice style: Ice Wall)

'_Impossible! How can she do a jutsu without the use of hand-seals?!'_ thought Shikamaru as his eyes widened in shock as a giant wall of ice, about three feet wide and six feet tall, burst through the ground between the two and knocked Shikamaru down, which disrupted his connection to Haku's shadow.

The moment Haku felt her movement return she jumped off to the left so that Shikamaru wouldn't have a chance to reestablish the connection. She then raised her right arm and extended her fingers as she whispered "Shatter!"

The top three feet of the ice wall suddenly shattered into thousands of sharp ice shards that quickly surrounded Shikamaru, several of them pressed right up against his neck, before he had a chance to get back to his feet. Haku let a half smile cross her face as she said "Do you yield?"

Shikamaru let out a lazy sigh and got a tired look on his face as he said "Troublesome girl and I was just about to give up too."

'_Heh, what a strange kid.'_ thought Genma as he raised his right hand and pointed at Haku before he said "The winner is Haku!"

As the crowd started to clap and cheer Naruto jumped down into the arena and landed right next to Haku. He then patted Haku on the back before he got a smile on his face and said "That was awesome Haku-chan! I didn't know you could do jutsu without the use of hand-seals."

Haku blushed from Naruto's complement as she turned to look Naruto in the eyes before she said "It's what Zabuza-sama had me work on for the past month. He figured that it would give me an edge in battle." Haku then lowered her head and continued "But… how could I lose track of my surroundings, and get caught like that. Zabuza-sama must be really disappointed in me."

"Don't say that Haku-chan. I don't think Zabuza-sensei would be disappointed, especially after you found a way out of that jutsu." said Naruto as he let his smile get bigger in an effort to comfort her and after a few moments of silence he put his hand under Haku's chin and brought her head up until they made eye contact. He then nodded his head in the direction of the balcony before he added "Now come on let get back to the waiting room so we can watch the remaining matches."

After everyone had cleared the arena floor Genma looked up at the crowd and said "Now then we will proceed to the next match! So will NiYal and Temari please come down!"

Temari pulled out her fan and created a sudden gust of wind before she jumped on top of her open fan and rode it down to the arena floor. The moment she landed Genma shook his head slightly as he said "Well you sure are eager to fight. Alright will NiYal please get down here!"

NiYal gripped the railing and thought _'Damn! I hate to do this, but I can't run this risk of Talon weakening me before the operation starts. I guess I have no choice.'_

He then looked to his left and spotted Akira and the rest of his team in the crowd. The moment he made eye contact with Akira she got a serious look on his face and nodded her head to show that she approved of his decision. So he turned his attention back to Genma before he said "I withdraw!"

Genma narrowed his eyes at NiYal as he thought _'What?'_

"Are you some kind of coward?! Come on and fight me like a true shinobi!" interrupted Temari as she glared at NiYal and tapped her foot on the dusty arena floor.

NiYal calmly looked Temari in the eyes and said "I have my reasons and your insults won't change my mind."

Temari hardened her gaze and growled at NiYal, but before she could retort back Genma said "Very well… since NiYal has withdrawn from the match Temari wins by default. So let's move on to the next match."

As Temari stormed off the field, sand started to swirl around the arena like mad and when it finally died down Gaara stood in the middle of arena and with a cold emotionless look in his eyes he then looked up at the waiting room balcony and said "I'm waiting."

Shino quietly turned around and with his hands in his pockets he made his way to the arena floor. Once Shino enter the arena, he got into position as Genma looked at both the participants before he said "The next match Aburame Shino vs. Gaara… BEGIN!"

Gaara got a bloodthirsty look on his face as he said "Mother will enjoy the taste of your blood."

"Mother?" questioned Shino but Gaara remained quiet as his sand poured out of his gourd.

As more sand came out it suddenly took on the form of Gaara before it twisted its body and shot out a stream of sand from its right arm. Just before the sand made contact Shino managed to avoid the attack by jumping off to his left.

Gaara narrowed his eyes as he saw Shino dodge his attack but before he could do anything else, he suddenly found himself shrouded in a dark shadow. When he turned to look he discovered that the dark shadow was really a giant swarm of bugs descending on him.

(Waiting Room Balcony)

Naruto whistled as the bugs completely enveloped Gaara's sand dome, which was created from his suna bunshin, before he said "Not bad, he must have released those bugs while he was still in the hallway leading to the arena, but does he think that those bugs can penetrate Gaara's sand dome?"

Tsunade shook her head and let out a sigh before she looked at Naruto and said "You don't remember our lesson on the Aburame Clan do you?"

"What…? You mean their bugs ability to eat chakra?" asked a curious Naruto and once he saw Tsunade nod her head to answer his question, he looked down into the arena just in time to see that Gaara was now completely covered in bugs before he added "But do you really think that will be enough to get through that defense?"

(Back in the Arena)

It had only been a few seconds since Shino's bugs had completely covered Gaara when the done of bugs started to bubble and deform before it suddenly exploded which sent bugs and bits of sand everywhere, and in the center stood Gaara with a crazed look in his eyes.

Gaara took one step towards Shino before he felt a sharp pain shoot through his forehead. He brought his right hand up to his forehead and said "UGH…! Why are you so angry mother? I know I haven't given you any tasty blood in awhile but I promise to give you some tasty blood real soon."

Shino stared at Gaara with an impartial look on his face as he thought _'There he goes with that 'mother' thing again. I wonder what it could mean. Could he have a pact with some form of animal as well?'_

Unfortunately Shino didn't get anymore time to ponder this because, before he could even react, Gaara's pain subsided and he shot out a giant column of sand. The tip of the column morphed into the shape of a spearhead and pierced Shino's chest.

(Arena Stands)

Hinata, who had come with Kiba to watch the finals, let out a gasp and got a worried look on her face as she said "Shino-kun…"

When Kiba heard this got a smirk on his face before he said "Don't worry Hinata, Shino's going to be just fine."

Hinata looked over at Kiba in shock as she muttered "B-But…"

"Trust me while you were off training with that crazy proctor lady, Shino underwent some special training supervised by not only Kurenai-sensei, but by his father, Aburame Shibi. So don't worry I'm sure he has a trick or two up his sleeve." said Kiba as he got a reassuring smile on his face.

(Back on the Arena Floor)

As Gaara's sand spear hosted Shino into the air, Shino's body dissolved into an entire swarm of bugs, it started from the chest wound and worked its way outward. The swarm then moved at full speed and charged Gaara. Just before the swarm made contact however Gaara's wall of sand reacted and came between Gaara and the swarm.

The moment Shino's bugs started to drain the Chakra from the sand, Shino himself jumped out of a tree directly behind Gaara, who had turned slightly at the sudden movement, and moved to strike. Since the bugs were draining the chakra from the sand its response time was slowed to such a degree that Shino was able to break through and slash at Gaara's face with his kunai.

The force of the blow was enough to make Gaara take a couple of steps back, and once Shino landed on the ground he quickly pivoted on his feet to face Gaara before he thought _'Was I able to get through his defenses?'_

Shino's question was soon answered when Gaara turned and revealed that the blow did indeed nick Gaara's sand armor, for a small trickle of sand ran down the side of his face. Gaara then got a crazed look in his eye and threw his hand out and said "Sabaku Kyuu." (Desert Coffin)

Shino's eyebrows slightly raised above his sunglasses as sand suddenly emerged from the ground beneath him and then proceeded to completely cover his body, leaving only his face exposed. As Shino struggled to free himself Gaara got an evil glint in his eyes as he slowly started to compress the sand around Shino. When Gaara could see that Shino was in pain he calmly said "You posed a greater challenge than I thought, but it ends here…"

(Waiting Room Balcony)

"Why doesn't Genma stop this match? It's pretty clear who the winner is, if this match continues…" said Kushina before she suddenly saw movement out of the corner of her left eye and turned just in time to see Naruto jump over the balcony railing. She then grabbed the railing and leaned forward as she shouted "Naruto-kun wait! This doesn't concern you!"

When Naruto ignored Kushina's word she let out a deep sigh before she turned to Tsunade and asked "Is he always like this?"

"Yeah… he never could stand to see other people suffer." said Tsunade before she got a sad look on her face and added "He doesn't want anyone else to suffer like he had too."

(Arena Floor)

Gaara constricted his sand a bit more, which cause the pressure Shino's body was under to increase greatly. But just as Gaara was about to go in for the kill Naruto's fist made contact with the sand wall as he shouted "THAT'S ENOUGH GAARA!"

When Gaara's sand wall stopped Naruto's punch Naruto focused more chakra into his right arm and increased the pressure on the sand wall until it finally gave way and Naruto's fist made contact with Gaara's chin. The force of the blow knocked Gaara to the ground, which caused the sand around Shino to break apart and fall to the ground.

(Waiting Room Balcony)

Temari gripped the railing as he eyes widened in shock as she said "NO WAY!! He actually was able to force his was through Gaara's sand! Just who is this guy?!"

(Arena Floor)

As Shino collapsed to his knees Naruto shook his right hand and as the slight numbing sensation died down he thought _'Damn! That was like punching through six feet of solid steel. I'm going to have to work on improving my technique… otherwise I'm never going to get to Kaasan's level of strength.'_

He then turned to face Genma and asked "Why didn't you stop the match?"

"I didn't see a clear winner yet. There was still a possibility that he could have broken free. But it's over now… the winner is Gaara. " replied Genma before he went over to check on Shino.

The moment Genma moved towards Shino, Gaara got to his feet and brought his right hand up and touched his lip, which was bleeding, as he said "What… What is this strange sensation? And this moisture… Mother… what is this moisture?"

Gaara then pulled his hand away from his lip and looked at the blood on his hand before he said "Blood! It's my BLOOD!!"

But just before Gaara could do anything, Sarutobi landed in-between the two and in a harsh tone said "That's enough! If either of you continue you'll both be disqualified."

Gaara was about to attack when he felt a sharp pain in his head and after a few moments the pain finally subsided and he got a calm look on his face before he turned to face Naruto and in a cold tone of voice said "When I get my chance… I will kill you."

As Gaara walked slowly off the field Naruto looked up and saw the concerned look on Temari's face before he fixed his gaze on Gaara's back and said "I will make realize that you're not alone Gaara…"

Naruto then looked up at the balcony and noticed Haku before he added "…I'll make you see that even people like us can find someone special."

Once the medics took Shino off the field and everyone else had returned to the waiting room balcony Genma looked up at the crowd and said "It's time we begin the next match! So will Hyuuga Neji and Uzumaki Naruto please report to the arena floor!"

Neji wordlessly made his way down to the field but Naruto just stood there for a little bit lost in thought. Once Neji entered the arena Genma looked up at Naruto as said "Hey Naruto get down here! Or are you forfeiting your match?"

Naruto looked down at Genma and responded with "No! I don't quit and I back down!"

He then pulled out his sword, sheath and all, before he removed his trench coat. Once his coat was off two small kunai holders, one on each arm, that could hold up to four kunai, each one was attached to a spring loaded launcher designed to send a kunai into the palm of the user's hand, Naruto then handed them to Haku as he said "Could you keep an eye on these for me Haku-chan?"

"Sure think Naruto-kun." replied a shocked Haku as she took the items from Naruto, and as he jumped over the railing she looked down at the items before she thought _'I've never known Naruto-kun to remove his coat before a fight… what could this mean?'_

Naruto landed on the field, in front of Neji, and as he shifted into his fighting stance he got a serious tone in his voice before he said "I'm going to make you pay for what you did to Hinata."

"I already told you. That's none of your business." replied Neji as he got into his Juuken stance.

Genma looked at both of the participants before he lowered his right hand and shouted "Now then… match three…BEGIN!!"

Naruto narrowed his eyes at Neji as he thought _'If I get in close he'll try to close my Tenketsu, and if that happens I wouldn't be able to do any jutsu. So the smart thing to do would be to fight him at a distance.'_

'_But where would the fun be in that! Besides let's see just how fast he really is…' _thought Naruto as he got a smirk of his face before he charged at Neji.

(Up in the Stands)

Kiba's eyes widened in shock as he shouted "What are you an idiot?! You can't fight a Hyuuga head on like that!"

Meanwhile Hinata, who was seated right next to Kiba, got a worried look on her face and thought _'Naruto-kun… please be careful…'_

(Back in the Arena)

As Naruto closed the distance between them Neji activated his Byakugan and when Naruto was within striking distance Neji did an open palm strike aimed for Naruto's heart, but just before his attack made contact Naruto sidestepped out of the way, which caused Neji's strike to miss by at least six inches. Then before Neji could react, Naruto delivered an open palm strike of his own to Neji's chin.

The force of the blow was enough to knock Neji off his feet, and as he fell to the ground Naruto said "That… was for Hinata."

(Up in the stands)

Kiba's jaw dropped to the ground as he stared wide eyed at the scene before him before he said "No way! You mean he's actually faster than Neji!"

"I-it's not that Kiba-kun. N-Naruto-kun helped train me with Anko-sensei, s-so he has experience fighting against the Juuken style." muttered Hinata as she tried to hide the blush on her face from Naruto's constant use of her name.

Kiba just looked down at Naruto and said "But Neji's style seems more refined than yours. So I really don't think it will be of much help."

(Arena Floor)

As Neji got to his feet he wiped dirt from his chin before he leveled his eyes with Naruto and thought _'He's faster than before. What kind of training did he go through to increase his speed this much?'_ "I'll admit you caught me off guard there. But why didn't you use the strength you displayed during the preliminaries? You could have easily taken my head off with that blow."

Naruto meet Neji's gaze and then got a serious look on his face as he said "I have my reasons."

'_Jerk!'_ thought Neji as he narrowed his eyes for a second before he said "Your reasons had nothing to do with it…, it was destiny."

"Destiny?" asked a curious Naruto before he got a smirk on his face and added "Heh, I don't believe in destiny."

"You should… our abilities and talents are determined at birth. (Naruto narrowed his at this) In other words, our entire destiny is set from the moment of our birth." said Neji as he stood there with his gaze fixed on Naruto.

Naruto closed his eyes for a moment and when he reopened them, for a brief moment, you could see all the years of pain and suffering he endured, before they returned to normal. He then got a strange smile on his face as he said "Well then… I guess I'm living proof that your belief is wrong. Because according to you… I should have died a long time ago."

"Wake up and face reality! If you were truly destined to die long ago, than it would have happened. But since you're here it appears fate had other plans. Each person's life consists only of being swept along in the inescapable current of his destiny. All of us… have only one thing in common… one shared fate…" said Neji before he got a strange look on his face and added "…DEATH."

(Up in the Stands)

Hiashi Hyuuga got a solemn look on his face when he saw the hatred present in Neji's eyes and thought _'Those eyes…his hatred of the Main Branch is still so strong…'_

(Back in the Arena)

"Are you done? We could stand here all day and you still wouldn't convince me. So why don't we get back to the matter at hand?" said Naruto before he suddenly charged in.

Neji managed to dodge the punch to the head and then pivoted just in time to avoid the spinning back kick. He then tilted his head back just in time to avoid the follow-up back fist. Neji then countered with a sweep to the leg which knocked Naruto off his feet. Naruto did a handspring, with his left hand and landed on his feet. But the moment his feet touched the ground Neji was right there and stabbed Naruto in the shoulder.

Naruto grabbed his shoulder in pain as he felt his tenkestu's close. He then got an annoyed look on his face before he said "Damn, I was careless! You're better at Juuken than I gave you credit for. But my playtime is over."

"Wha…?" said Neji before Naruto suddenly disappeared in a puff of smoke. The moment this happened a blur was spotted coming out of a tree and made a beeline for Neji. The next thing Neji knew he felt a sharp pain at the base of his neck as Naruto delivered a chop just below the base of the skull.

After Neji collapsed to the ground Naruto looked down at Neji and said "I'm impressed. You managed to nail my Bunshin with your Juuken style."

'_How? How was he able to hide himself from my Byakugan?'_ thought Neji.

Naruto saw the curious look on Neji's face and said "Curious as to how I evaded your detection? Well I'll tell you…"

He then leaned down next to Neji's ear and whispered "I now the Byakugan's weakness."

Neji's eyes widened in shock and as Naruto stood back up he saw another question written all over Neji's face so he said "Hinata told me about it during her training, and I've been working with her on finding a way to negate this weakness. Though we haven't been very successful yet."

Naruto then got a smile on his face as he said "Now why don't you stand up so we can continue our little match."

Neji got an annoyed look on his face as he realized that he hadn't even tried to move during that little exchange, but when he tried to stand up he discovered that his limbs wouldn't respond the way he wanted them too, in fact they flopped around as if they were prodded with an electric shock.

When Naruto saw the confused look on Neji's face he squatted down, with his forearms resting on his legs, beside Neji and said "I see you finally noticed that your limbs aren't responding the way you want them too."

Neji's eyes widened in shock before he looked up at Naruto and shouted "What did you do to me?!"

Naruto got a smile on his face as he said "It's a little trick my Kaasan taught me. I changed chakra into electricity to create an electrical field. Then I poured it into your nervous system, which according to Kaasan 'disrupts the electrical signals that your brain sends to the rest of your body.' So basically… I short-circuited your nervous system."

(Waiting Room Balcony)

Raven got a shocked look on her face, underneath her mask, before she turned to Tsunade and asked "Is that true Tsunade-sama? Does he really have the skill to pull that move off?"

Tsunade turned to face Raven before she got a proud smile on her face and said "Yes he does. Naru-chan learned the basics of it a few months ago and we've been working to perfect it ever since. I'm really proud of his progress, but the effects only last a few minutes, once that boy's body recovers he'll have full control over his body again."

(Arena Floor)

Naruto's smile never left his face and as he shifted his weight so that he was in a more comfortable position he said "Now that I've got your complete attention." He then got a serious look on his face before he added "Why don't you tell me why you hate Hinata so much, and don't give me that bullshit that she's from the main branch and you're from the cadet branch crap. I know it's more than just that, I can see it in your eyes."

"I already told you that's none of your business."

"BULLSHIT!" shouted Naruto as he got an angry look on his face and added "When you started to play your mind games and tear down her confidence like you did… IT BECAME MY BUSINESS!! If you get off on tearing people down like that… I'll never forgive you!"

Neji closed his eyes for a moment and decided that it was best to buy some time until he could find a way out of this, he then opened his eyes and looked at Naruto before he said "Fine… since you're so insistent, I'll tell you about the Hyuuga Clan legacy of hatred. There's a secret birthright ninjutsu passed down in the Hyuuga Main Branch. It's a…."

"Juin Jutsu, used to not only keep the Hyuuga clan Kekkei Genkai from getting into anyone else's hands, but to also keep the cadet branch under the main branch's control." interrupted Naruto which caused many of the people present to be taken by surprise.

"H-How…?" asked a wide eyed Neji as he stared at Naruto in disbelief.

Naruto shrugged his shoulders as if it was no big deal and said "My father had extensive notes concerning your clans Juin Jutsu. It covers everything from sealing your Kekkei Genkai upon the person's death; to it more devious purposes… it was quite detailed actually."

(Up in the Stands)

Hiashi's eyes widened in shock before he narrowed them in a calculating manner and thought _'Yondaime-sama had a full working knowledge of the seal? Does this mean he was working on a way to get rid of the seal and heal the rift that has formed in the clan?'_

(Arena Floor)

Naruto leveled his gaze at Neji as he shifted his squatted position on more time before he said "Look Ero-sennin had me read all about the two branches and the bitterness between them, and to this day I still don't understand why, but that's beside the point. I asked you why you hate Hinata. When I look into your eyes, I can tell it's more than just the seal. So tell me your real reason for hating Hinata so much."

"Since you already know about the set-up I'll tell you about that incident. When my Father, Hiashi-sama's twin brother, was MURDERED by the main branch!" shouted Neji as he got a look of absolute hatred on his face.

Naruto was taken off guard by this comment and as his face got a look of absolute shock he said "What?"

Neji chuckled a little at Naruto's reaction before he said "That's right… since Hiashi-sama was born first into this world, MY father was banished to the cadet branch of the family, and because of this my father was the one murdered to protect the main branch and prevent a war with Kumogakure no Sato."

Naruto's eyes widened in realization as he remembered something Jiraiya had recently told him, while they worked on that seal of his fathers, before he said "The kidnapping incident…"

"So you know about that do you? You're right while Kumo talked peace they sent their ambassador here so he could kidnap Hinata-sama and gain the Byakugan. But Hiashi-sama quickly found and killed the kidnapper. You'd think this would have given us the upper hand…. However Kumo themselves claimed that Konoha had breached the contract and they were the ones making outrageous demands." said Neji as he started to feel the effects of the jutsu wearing off so he added, "Things broke down after that and war threatened to break out once again… until a back room deal was struck. Kumo demanded the corpse of the one responsible for killing their shinobi… in other words they wanted Hiashi-sama, the holder of the Byakugan. And Konoha accepted."

After a moment of silence Neji continued "War had been averted thanks to my father, who was killed as Hiashi-sama's body double!! Even though they were identical twins the mere difference of who was born first and who was born second sealed their fates forever."

"I can't even imagine the amount of pain you felt when your father was killed…" said Naruto as he stood up from his squatted position and stretched his legs for a moment before he narrowed his eyes at Neji and continued "But if you're telling me that the only reason you hate Hinata is because she's a member of the main branch, something which she had no control over, then… you make me SICK! Sure it wasn't fair that your father was killed but that has NOTHING to do with Hinata! Ever since I've started to help train her, she's been pushing herself past her limits so she can earn the respect of those around her. She's trying so hard to prove that your so called FATE can be changed if you're willing to put enough hard work in!"

At this point Naruto's jutsu had worn off and Neji gained complete control over his body again. When Neji discovered this he quickly got to his feet and activated his Byakugan before a look of utter anger crossed his face. He then pointed his right index finger at Naruto and shouted "Stop lecturing as if you know ANYTHING! How could you, the pampered son of one of the Sanin understand! You know nothing about my fate… about bearing a mark you can never be rid of, a curse that set's you apart from EVERYONE ELSE!!

"Actually…." said Naruto as he lowered his head so that his hair covered his eyes, while he reflected on his past, before he added "…I understand that better than you know."

Neji narrowed his eyes as Naruto raised his head to reveal a look of fierceness that Naruto hasn't shown in this match yet as he said "And… so what? You may be stuck with a curse for the rest of your life, but it's the choices YOU make that decide how that life turns out."

"Now…" said Naruto as he got into his fighting stance and narrowed his eyes at Neji before he added "Let's finish this."

(Waiting Room Balcony)

Raven shook her head at what Naruto allowed to happen before she sighed "That was foolish. Why'd Naruto-sama let the conversation to go on for so long and allow Neji's mobility to return?"

Tsunade turned to look at Raven before she said "Not really… Naru-chan's got a strange code of conduct. Since this isn't a life or death struggle, I'm sure he felt that it was necessary to take this route to find out what he wanted to know."

"You mean the 'why Neji hates Hinata-san' thing right?" asked Haku as she came up beside Tsunade while still holding Naruto's effects.

"That's right Haku-san. Because of his childhood Naru-chan can't even fathom how family member's could come to hate each other to the point where they want the others death, and it's been bothering him ever since. Now that he knows the reason behind Neji's hate I'm not sure what he'll do. If its one thing Naru-chan can't stand, it's when people hate others for things they have no control over." said Tsunade as she looked down into the arena.

(Arena Floor)

Neji got into his Juuken stance and leveled his eyes at Naruto before he said "Choices? Heh… What a joke! Everyone is born with a destiny that cannot be changed, and I'll prove it right here and now. For destiny has chosen me to be the winner of this match."

Naruto got a curious look on his face as he said "Really? How do you figure that? I've had the upper hand the entire match."

Neji increased the flow of chakra to his eyes, which made his Byakugan more pronounced, before he said "Because you're in range of my Eight Trigrams… Hakke Hyakunijuuhachishou." (Eight Divination Sighs, One-hundred and Twenty-Eight Palms of the Hand)

The moment Neji finished those words he rushed forward at his top speed and shouted "Two Palms!"

But just before Neji's fingertips could make contact Naruto used his own speed to avoid the blow. This didn't deter Neji however as he quickly followed with a series of blows as he said "Four Palms! Eight Palms! Sixteen Palms! Thirty-Two Palms!! Sixty-Four Palms!! ONE HUNDREND TWENTY-EIGHT PALMS!!"

Neji's speed increased as he continued to launch blow after blow with his palms strikes, but Naruto seemed to continue to match Neji's speed and evade each and every one of the blows aimed at his tenkestu. Then when Neji launched his final strike, Naruto grabbed Neji's left right with his own left hand and delivered a hard side kick to Neji's torso. Naruto then stepped closer and landed a powerful uppercut to Neji's chin which caused Neji's head to snap back and forced him to the ground.

The moment that Neji hit the ground Naruto snapped his arm so that a Kunai was launched into his hand, from the kunai launcher on his arm, before he came beside Neji and placed the kunai at his neck and said "I told you that destiny is meaningless. It's the choices WE make that decide the outcome."

Neji just laid his head back and didn't say a word as Genma walked up to the pair and said "Winner of the third match Uzumaki Naruto!!"

Once Naruto heard this he stood up and put his kunai away, but the moment he tried to take a step toward the door leading to the waiting room, he felt a sharp pain shoot through his leg before he collapsed to one knee and muttered "Damn it! I didn't think a glancing blow would be so painful."

As the medic team came over to check on Naruto, Tsunade landed next to Naruto before she turned to the medic squad and said "I'll take care of him. Go and help the other team with the Hyuuga."

"But Tsunade-sama it's our job to take care of the wounded during this exam." said one of the Medic-nin's as he bowed his head in respect.

Tsunade got a serious look on her face as she said "Are you saying that I'm not capable of healing his injury?"

The medic-nin got a panicked look on his face as he replied "N-N-N-Not at all Tsunade-sama. I would never say you are unqualified to handle such a task."

"Good, then be on your way. I handle things here." said Tsunade as she got a smile on her face and shooed the medic squad away.

Tsunade then turned to face Naruto before she bonked him on the head and said "You BAKA! That's what you get for trying to match a Hyuuga when it comes to speed."

"Yeah, Yeah, I know it wasn't the smartest move but at least I was fast enough to receive a glancing blow and not a direct hit." retorted Naruto as he rubbed the small lump on his head while Tsunade's hands took on a green glow before she started to heal his injury.

As Tsunade continued to heal Naruto a man wearing a white cloak complete with hood that covered his face fixed his gaze on Naruto and thought _'Why did that Hyuuga call you the pampered son of a Sanin Naruto? And now Tsunade-sama is here and healing your injury, what is her involvement in all of this… could she? …Never mind it doesn't matter anyway. But Naruto I see that you've gained some important people in your life and I'm happy for you… which makes what I have to do all the harder…'_

(Flashback-Earlier that Morning on top of the Hokage Monument)

The white cloaked man looked out at the village and with a smile on his face he said "Man it's been a long time."

"I didn't bring you back here so you could take in the sights." said Orochimaru as he walked up beside the man before he added "Don't forget I brought you back here to do a job and I want you to use THAT jutsu to do it too."

The white cloaked man clenched his teeth before he grabbed Orochimaru by the collar of his shirt and snapped "You and I both know that the only reason I'm here is because the Shinagami allowed it! So I may have to follow your orders when it comes to attacking THAT person but I will choose the method of attack not you!"

Once Orochimaru was released he got a stern look on his face and said "Insolent fool! Just make sure you take care of them! I don't want them interfering with my plans. This village will fall at my hand and no one can stop me Ku! Ku! Ku! Ku!"

(End Flashback)

The white cloaked man let out a sigh of depression as he thought _'Naruto… I hope you can forgive me for what I'm about to do.'_

After a few more minutes with no activity the crowd started to get a little restless. That's when the Kazekage got a smile under his cloth face mask and turned to face Sarutobi before he said "My, my, the crowd sure is abuzz isn't it?"

Sarutobi looked over at the Kazekage and with a smile on his face said "Well of course the fights up till now have been terrific."

The Kazekage locked his gaze with Sarutobi before he said "Oh not at all… I believe that this excitement is because of the upcoming match. Many of the people here have come just to see the Uchiha fight."

Sarutobi looked down at the ground when he heard this which caused the Kazekage to ask "The Uchiha has arrived… hasn't he?"

Sarutobi lowered the tip of his Hokage hat and remained silent.

(Arena Floor)

"There good as new. Next time please use a little more strategy when you face a Hyuuga. They aren't pushovers you know." said Tsunade as she finished her treatment of Naruto.

Naruto got to his feet and moved his leg around a little bit as he said "It was a risk I had to take. Besides you have to admit that my speed has increased greatly if I can keep up with a Hyuuga."

Just then Haku landed beside the two and pulled Naruto into a hug before she said "You won Naruto-kun!"

"Was there ever any doubt?" asked Naruto as he got a slight blush on his cheeks from the close contact.

Haku then released her hug before she held out her hand that held Naruto's sword and trench coat before she said "Here's your stuff Naruto-kun."

Naruto got a smile on his face as he took the coat from Haku, and as he put it on he said "Thanks Haku-chan."

Then when Naruto took his Kodachi Haku asked "Naruto-kun, why didn't you use any of your more powerful jutsu's against Neji?"

As Naruto put his Kodachi back in it's proper place he looked Haku in the eyes and said "I have to conserve my chakra for the battles ahead, besides… I promised Hinata."

"I see." said Haku as she got a smile on her face and nodded her head which caused Naruto to get a smile on his own face and slightly nodded his head in return.

He then looked around the arena and noticed that Sasuke had yet to make an appearance before he said "Hasn't Sasuke-teme arrived yet?"

"No he hasn't and from what I've heard they can't find him anywhere in the village." said Tsunade as she looked up at the Hokage's booth.

(Hokage's Booth)

Sarutobi's aid walked up to Sarutobi and leaned in so that his mouth was next to Sarutobi's ear before he whispered "We still haven't located Uchiha Sasuke. Considering the circumstances, perhaps it's better to announce his forfeit now before the crowd gets out of hand."

Sarutobi closed his eyes in deep thought for a moment before he opened them again and said "There's no other choice then… Uchiha Sasuke will be disqualified by forfeit."

The Kazekage let out a deep sigh before he turned to face Sarutobi and once they made eye contact he said "Hokage-sama may I ask that you forestall this decision for a bit longer?"

Sarutobi's aid got a look of shock on his face as he said "Forgive me Kazekage-sama but we can't do that! If a shinobi can't even show up to his match on time how can we expect him to succeed on a mission if it is given a timetable? And with no other reason…"

"Ah but I have a reason." interrupted The Kazekage which shocked both Sarutobi and his Aid. The Kazekage then looked out into the crowd before he added "Many of the Lords and Daimyos, including myself, came here to observe the last member of the Uchiha Clan fight. As leader of Sunagakure no Sato, I beseech you to postpone this match until Uchiha Sasuke arrives."

'_Sasuke may not even show up but I have no other choice…'_ thought Sarutobi before he got a serious look on his face and said "Very well, I'll postpone this fight for five minutes if Uchiha Sasuke doesn't arrive by that time he'll forfeit the match and we will proceed with the finals."

"Hokage-sama?" asked his confused Aid before Sarutobi gave him a stern look and said "Inform the Proctor."

After Sarutobi's aid bowed his head and vanished The Kazekage bowed his head slightly as he said "A wise decision Hokage-sama."

(Arena Floor)

The Aid had just delivered Sarutobi's decision when Genma looked up at the audience and shouted "ATTENTION EVERYONE!! One of the competitors for the next match has yet to arrive! So Hokage-sama has decided to postpone this match for five minutes to give the competitor enough time arrive here."

Naruto looked up at the Hokage's booth and narrowed his eyes at Sarutobi before he shouted "WHAT THE HELL OLD MAN?! Special treatment for the Uchiha HUH?!"

Kushina landed next to Naruto and put her hand on his shoulder before she said "Let it go Naruto-kun. He has the final say when it comes to this situation."

"But I highly doubt that they'd give anyone else the same courtesy." commented Naruto as he turned his head to look at Kushina.

This time it was Tsunade who interrupted with "That's very true Naru-chan, but there's nothing we can do about it now the decision's been made. So let's just go back to the balcony and wait for the five minutes to expire."

Naruto crossed his arms and huffed "Fine."

(Exactly Five Minutes later)

Genma looked at his pocket watch and as the second hand hit twelve, indicating that Sasuke's time is up, he said "Well I guess that's it then it appears that…"

Just then a huge swirl of leaves appeared in the center of the arena. As the leaves started to dissipate two figures could be seen in the center.

"And you are?" asked Genma as he got a slight smile on his face while the swirling leaves fell to the ground to reveal Kakashi and Sasuke, who were standing in the middle the swirling leaves.

Sasuke turned to face Genma before he said "Uchiha... Sasuke."

Next Chapter: At long last! Naruto vs. Sasuke!

--

Author's Note2: Well I hope you liked the fights in this chap and as the next title suggests we'll have the Naruto and Sasuke fight as well as the start of the invasion so I hope to see you all the next time I update.


	28. At Long Last: Naruto vs Sasuke!

"Speech"

'_Thoughts'_

**Demon/Summon/inner Sakura speech**

_**Demon/Summon thoughts**_

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or any of the characters created by Kishimoto, but all OC's are my own creation.

MadaMag: Can't really tell you without revealing too much sorry.

Himenokowaishumi: That identity of the white-cloaked figure will be revealed before the end of this chapter.

chm01: It will take some time but Naruto will eventually see Kushina as a second mother.

Forever Rahhel: It didn't feel right for Naruto to use anything new on Neji, but don't worry in the upcoming invasion I do plan to have Naruto use some new techniques.

EliadS: The reason I didn't use Katon was because when I tried to add it in for some reason it just didn't play out well. So I decided to keep it out of this fight. As for my down playing Neji I didn't think I did, I have Neji at around Chunin level while Naruto who as you said has been trained by Tsunade for nearly ten years is around Jounin level at this time. So I thought I played it right but I could be wrong. I also wanted to say that I do have plans for Neji and Hinata as well as the rest of the Hyuuga clan later in the story that I hope will display their power and grace.

Epicweaver: Sorry to hear you feel that way but I did have Naruto intervene earlier during Hinata and Neji's fight. And I also plan to have some of the council members try something because of this. But the reason it didn't happen right now is because only Sarutobi was present during these events, the others were relocated to a safe place because of the upcoming invasion, and he chose not to pursue the matter because Naruto wanted to save a life.

Authors Note: Well the Sasuke fight's finally here and as I mentioned in the last chapter the invasion will start in this chapter. So let the invasion begin!

Now on with the story

--

Chapter 28: At long last: Naruto vs. Sasuke!

As the crowd cheered and applauded the arrival of the last participant; Naruto looked from one end of the arena to the other before he said "Haku-chan you might have to use Kirigakure no Jutsu!" (Hidden Mist Technique) when this match is over."

Haku got a bewildered look on her face and turned to face Naruto as she asked "Why is that Naruto-kun?"

Naruto got a big smile on his face as he cheerfully said "Because I think there's going to be a riot after I kick Sasuke-teme's ass, and I'll need some cover so I can make my escape."

Haku got a smile of her own as she giggled at his comment before she said "Don't worry Naruto-kun I won't let a single person lay a finger on you."

"Thanks Haku-chan that means more to me than you'll ever know." said Naruto as his smile got a soft tone to it which caused Haku's cheeks to take on a slight pinkish tone as she lowered her head and rubbed the underside of her nose.

Meanwhile down in the arena Kakashi put his hand behind his head and got an embarrassed look on his face as he said "Ah sorry we're so late, but flashy entrance not withstanding… don't tell me Sasuke lost by forfeit?"

"Sheesh! Are you TRYING to teach him your tardiness as well?" said Genma as he shook his head in disbelief before he added "And no worries you're safe! Hokage-sama was gracious enough to postpone his match for five minutes, and that expired just as you arrived. So Sasuke wasn't disqualified."

"Ha, ha, ha! Oh that's great, you had me worried for a moment there." said Kakashi as he got a look of relief on his face.

Just then Naruto landed right in front of the group and as he stood up he got a smile on his face before he crossed his arms over his chest and said "I was beginning to think that you wouldn't show."

Sasuke narrowed his eyes at Naruto before he said "I'd never run from the likes of you. You're just a mere stepping stone, once I defeat you I'll be one step closer to achieving my ultimate goal."

"Ultimate goal?" questioned Naruto as his right eyebrow arced and he got a curious look on his face.

Sasuke shifted his position and got into his fighting stance as he said "I will have my revenge no matter the cost."

"Revenge?" said Naruto as he shook his head before he got into his own fighting stance and added "Whatever, all I know is that you're far too high on yourself and need to be taken down a peg or two."

Sasuke narrowed his eyes at Naruto but before he could say anything Genma walked up to the pair and said "All right you two enough banter. The crowd is getting restless so… BEGIN!!"

(Waiting Room Balcony)

Kakashi entered the waiting room and walked directly over to Raven before he said "Raven why did you lead me on a chase through all of Konoha and then just disappear? If you didn't want to talk to me why did you come and see me?"

Raven got a curious look under her mask and asked "What are you talking about Kakashi? The last time I saw you was at the memorial stone over a month ago."

This time it was Kakashi who got a curious look on his face as he said "That's not true you came by while I was training Sasuke. I even left Sasuke to train on his own while I went after you so we could talk."

"And just what do we have to talk about?" asked a curious Raven as she tilted her head slightly to the left.

Kakashi looked Raven dead in the eyes and said "I wanted to know why you never told me you were still alive? Kushina-san said it was because of something I did, but I don't remember doing anything that would get on your bad side."

An annoyed Raven put her hands on her hips and turned back to the match as she said "You don't REMEMBER what you DID?! I can't believe YOU! After all these years you'd think you'd at least remember THAT. Well if you can't remember I'm not going to tell you. Now why don't we get back to the match I want to see if Naruto-sama will show us anything new during this fight."

"But…" said Kakashi as he got a perplexed look on his face but when he saw that Raven had turned her full attention back to the match he let out a sigh before he turned his attention back to the match as he thought _'What the hell is going on? I know Rin came to see me but she doesn't recall the event. And what could I have done to her back then to make Rin act this way?'_

(Arena Floor)

The moment Genma began the match Sasuke became a blur and threw a powerful front kicked aimed at Naruto's chin. Just before the kick made contact Naruto threw his head back, which caused the kick to miss by mere inches, and launched his body backward so it appeared that the kick had made contact.

Sasuke narrowed his eyes as Naruto did a flip in midair so that when his feet touch the ground he was facing Sasuke.

(Waiting Room Balcony)

Kushina got a smile on her face and a glint of pride in her eyes as she said "I'll be damned he actually did it! The way he fought Neji earlier I didn't think he was going to use THAT technique, but I guess I was wrong."

Tsunade turned to look at Kushina before she said "So… that's what you two were working on during the first two weeks. All Naru-chan would tell me was you were helping him with one of his weaknesses."

Haku looked back and forth between Kushina and Tsunade before she asked "What technique are you talking about? I didn't see Naruto-kun use any kind of jutsu."

Kushina's smile never left her face as she looked over at Haku and said "It's not really a jutsu per say. All Naruto-kun is really doing is using his chakra and channeling it in such a way that it will allow him to increase his speed and agility far beyond what would normally be possible. It's a technique I created so I could keep up with Minato-kun's normal speed during our spars."

Haku's eyes got wide for a moment before she got a curious look on her face and asked "But then way didn't Naruto-kun use it during his fight with Neji?"

"Probably because he was suppose to have back to back fights. You see the greatest weakness of this technique is that it takes a lot of chakra to move at those high speeds. So if Naruto-kun had used it during his fight with Neji he might have been at a disadvantage during this fight." said Kushina as she turned her gaze back to the match.

(Arena Floor)

The moment Naruto's feet touched the ground he got a smile on his face and looked Sasuke in the eyes before he said "I'm impressed, but tell me… is your present speed because you copied my movements in the forest, or from Lee-san when he fought Gaara?"

Sasuke gritted his teeth and glared at Naruto before he said "That's none of your business!! I'll show you the power of the Uchiha Clan! And when I'm through with you, I'll have my revenge on the one responsible for all of my suffering!"

"Suffering? You don't know the meaning of the word." snapped Naruto as he narrowed his eyes and hardened his gaze.

It was at this point that Sasuke's emotions got the best of him and as he charged in he shouted "What would you know about my pain?! I doubt you've ever seen anyone you care about die right in front of your eyes!!"

Naruto got a serious look on his face as he dodged a punch aimed straight for his head and then sidestepped as a side kick was launched at his torso. He then ducked under a spinning heel kick but as Sasuke threw another punch aimed for his face Naruto merely stepped to the right and grabbed Sasuke's wrist before he said "You're right I never had to see anyone I cared about die right in front of me. So I can't even imagine that kind of pain and I wouldn't want to either. I may have been wrong when I said you don't know the meaning of suffering, but still that doesn't give you the right to act all superior and decide who's worthy to be a shinobi."

Naruto then twisted his body so that he flipped Sasuke over his shoulder and into a nearby tree. The moment Sasuke's back slammed up against the hard bark of the tree Naruto appeared in front of him and delivered a hard punch to Sasuke's gut. As Sasuke grabbed his stomach and fell to his knees hacking and coughing Naruto said "Be grateful that I didn't use my full strength. Now why don't you admit that I am a skilled shinobi even though I never attended an academy, and we can continue this match in a civilized manner."

(Waiting room balcony)

A smile crossed Ravens face as she looked around the arena and noticed that most of the crowd looked on in stunned silence at Naruto's display before she said "Well Kakashi it looks like Naruto-sama has the upper hand doesn't it?"

"I won't be so sure of that. Sasuke has yet to activate his Sharingan, so he may surprise you yet." replied Kakashi as he kept his visible eye trained on the two combatants below.

(Arena Floor)

Sasuke coughed a couple of more times before he got to his feet and glared at Naruto as he said "Why would I give a dobe like you any credit. You may have caught me by surprise there but that won't happen again! SHARINGAN!!"

"I see this is going to be harder than I thought. I guess I'm just going to have to beat some since into you." sighed Naruto as he shifted into a defensive position and waited for Sasuke to make the first move.

The commas in Sasuke's eyes started to spin rapidly as he went through a series of hand-seals and shouted "Katon: Housenka no Jutsu!" (Fire Style: Mythical Fire Phoenix Technique)

As Sasuke emitted several small fireballs, Naruto did a series of his own hand-seals before he shouted "Suiton: Suiryuudan no Jutsu!" (Water style: Water Dragon Projectile Technique)

The water, in the pond that was just off to the right, started swirl around before it shot out of the pond in the shape of a dragon and moved to intercept the fireballs. The moment the two attack's collided the fireballs were quickly engulfed in water with only a small puff of steam to indicate that the two attacks collided. The force of the water was so great that it caused the shuriken, that were hidden within the fireballs, to be knocked aside. Sasuke's eyes widened in disbelief as the surge of water hit him and slammed him up against a nearby tree.

But the moment the water dissipated it revealed that Sasuke was nowhere to be found. Naruto looked from left to right as he thought _'Alright Sasuke-teme will you attack from the right or the left?'_

Naruto's question was soon answered when the ground cracked beneath him and a hand pulled him down until he was completely buried from the neck down. Sasuke got a smug look on his face as he said "Like it? It's called Daton: Shinjuu Zanshu no Jutsu (Earth Style: Double Suicide Decapitation Technique) and it's completely immobilized you. So just give up now dobe and save yourself the embarrassment."

Naruto looked up at Sasuke and got a smile on his face before he said "You really think you've caught me? Boy are you in for a surprise! BUNSHIN BAKUHA!!" (Shadow Clone Explosion)

Sasuke's eyes widened in shock as Naruto's clone glowed brightly for a moment before it exploded, which caused a huge amount of dust and debris to go flying into the air.

Sasuke hacked and coughed as some of the dust got into his lungs. He then quickly scanned the area as he shouted "Damn it! Where the hell are you!"

"Right behind you." whispered Naruto as he suddenly appeared behind Sasuke and threw a spinning back-fist aimed at his head, but Sasuke's new speed enabled him to duck just in time to doge the blow. However once Naruto saw Sasuke dodge he used his chakra to increase his speed even more and then landed a hard sidekick to Sasuke's torso, which knocked him back into the tree that was hit by the water dragon earlier. After Sasuke recover for the blow he grabbed his chest and glared at Naruto as he shouted "DAMN YOU!"

As the dust settled Naruto took several steps back and got into a defensive stance and then got a smile on his face before he said "Frustrated? Now you know how others must have felt as they saw you perform things they couldn't. Maybe this will give you a new perspective on those you've insulted over the years."

"What makes you think that? Those fools don't have a purpose like I have. They will never be able to obtain the power that I will acquire for my REVENGE. Now watch as I show you my new power!" said Sasuke as he started a series of hand-seals while he thought _'Now we'll see if this jutsu is as powerful as THAT man said…'_

(Flashback)

As the sun reach it's highest point in the sky over a rocky mountainous area Sasuke fell to his knees and gasped for breath as Kakashi stood over him and said "Not bad Sasuke, your speed is progressing nicely. Once we're finished with this we'll work on your reflexes and timing. You'll need to be able to anticipate your opponents moves if you wish to win. One hit with his impressive strength and it will be all over."

"Then why don't you show me some jutsu that will help me counter his STRENGTH." said Sasuke as he spat out that last word as if it was some kind of poison.

Kakashi let out a sigh and shook his head before he looked over at Sasuke and said "Look Sasuke get over this jealousy you seem to have for Naruto. That kind of feeling will cloud your judgment and lead… you… to…"

Sasuke got a curious look on his face when he saw Kakashi look past him with a look of disbelief on his face. When he turned around he saw a woman dressed all in black with a face mask in the shape of a Raven standing on the edge of a cliff that was about twenty feet off to the right of their position. She stood there for a moment before she jumped of the edge without saying a word, but before Sasuke could question this Kakashi said "Sasuke keep working on your speed training. There's something I need to take care of, so I'll be back in a little bit."

Before Sasuke could respond Kakashi went after the women. The moment Kakashi was out of sight Sasuke slammed his fist into the ground in frustration and said "Damn it! How can I get stronger when my sensei runs off after some strange women?!"

"It pains me to see that this village is holding you back Sasuke." said a mysterious voice that seemed to come from everywhere.

Sasuke quickly scanned the entire area as he got into a defensive position and shouted "Who's there?! Show yourself and face me like a man!"

"Easy there Sasuke, I did not come here to fight you." said the mysterious voice as a man dressed in a black cloak, that completely covered his features so that only his mouth could be seen, came out from behind a rock face off to the left.

Sasuke turned to face this figure and remained in his defensive stance as he asked "Then what did you come here for?"

The cloaked figure circled Sasuke as he calmly said "I came to offer you that which you desire."

"And what do I desire?" asked Sasuke as he kept his guard up while his eyes remained locked on the man.

"Power!" said the cloaked figure as he turned to face Sasuke before he continued "You desire the power to exact your revenge against your brother for wiping out your clan. I can give you that."

Sasuke's eyes widened in shock before he got a suspicious look on his face and asked "How do you know about that?"

The figure's mouth curled into a smile before he said "That's not important right now Sasuke. What is important however is the fact I can show you a jutsu that your sensei created but refuses to teach you."

"Oh and just what jutsu would that be?" asked a curious Sasuke who was eager to learn any technique in order to get closer to his goal.

"It's the only original jutsu Kakashi ever created. It has enough power to cut a lightening bolt in-half and is meant for a swift killing blow. This jutsu is called Chidori, (Thousand Birds) and I'm willing teach it to you." said the Cloaked Figure as he waited patiently for Sasuke's reply.

Sasuke stared at the man for a few moments before he finally asked "Why are you so willing to teach me such a jutsu? And more importantly if it's my Sensei's jutsu, how do you know it?"

The cloaked figure let his lips curl into a smile once again before he said "Well I'll answer your second question first. You see I know it because I happened to be in the area when your sensei first used that jutsu on an enemy shinobi. I have a photographic memory you see and was in a good position to see the hand-seals necessary to perform the jutsu. With a little practice I master the technique and as I said earlier I'm willing to teach it to you. Now as for your first question; I just can't stand to see someone with so much potential being stunted so they can be kept under control."

"No one controls me!!" shouted Sasuke as he glared at the cloaked figure.

The cloaked figure's smile never left his face as he said "If that's true then why won't your sensei teach you this jutsu? It's obvious that it's the fastest way to assure victory, so what other possible reason could there be?"

Sasuke remained silent for a moment as he contemplated the man's words and when he realized that this man spoke the truth he came to a decision. He looked at the man's hood covered face and got a smirk on his own face before he said "No one controls me… so when do we start."

(End Flashback)

Sasuke finished the last hand-seal and as a faint blue electrical charge started to encompass his right hand he said "Now you'll feel my full POWER!!"

As the electricity continued to build up around Sasuke's hand the Kazekage's eyes grew wide with excitement as he thought _'EXCELLENT!!' _

Meanwhile in the waiting room balcony Raven grabbed Kakashi by his vest and slammed him up against a nearby wall as she shouted "I can't believe you Kakashi! You knew he wasn't ready for that technique and you taught it to him anyway! Sensei and Obito would be ashamed of you!"

Kakashi however didn't pay attention to a word Raven said for his eye stared at Sasuke in shock before he thought _'HOW?! I never taught him the __Chidori__. So how does he know my technique?'_

When Kakashi didn't respond Raven got an annoyed look on her face and looked him dead in his visible eye, but when she saw the look of disbelief and shock in his eye she realized that he wasn't the one who taught it to Sasuke.

However before Raven could say anything Kushina, who keep her attention on the fight below, said "Stand down Raven. Surely by now you've noticed the look of shock in his eye. He wasn't the one to teach it to Sasuke."

"But then who…?" asked Raven as she released Kakashi and looked over at Kushina.

This time it was Tsunade who interrupted "We may never know, but that doesn't matter right now. This fight has just been launched into another category all together. That jutsu's sole purpose is to kill and nothing else."

Kakashi brushed himself off and looked over at Kushina and the others before he said "It would be best if Naruto gave up. There's no way he can defend himself against that technique. If the Chidori makes a direct hit, he will die."

"I don't think so Kakashi. Naruto-kun has the perfect jutsu to combat the Chidori." said Kushina as she let a smile form on her face.

Kakashi got a curious look on his face and kept his eye on Kushina as he said "What are you talking about?"

Kushina shifted her gaze over to Kakashi before she said "Just watch, you'll get your answer soon enough."

(Arena Floor)

As Sasuke continued to pour more of his chakra into his technique Naruto got a very serious look on his face and said "Do you really want to take it that far Sasuke-teme? The Chidori is an A-ranked assassination jutsu, you do know what that means… right?"

"Of course I do dobe! It's designed to kill its opponent, and that means that I'm one step close to achieving my goal! Soon I will have my revenge!" shouted Sasuke as he finally put what he felt like was enough chakra into the Chidori.

When Naruto saw the fierce look in Sasuke's eyes he shook his head and sighed "I see there's no talking you out of this. Then you leave me no choice…"

"So go ahead... use your Sensei's jutsu." said Naruto as he lifted his right hand, palm up, and started to form a blue orb of swirling chakra before he added "AND I'LL USE MY FATHERS!!"

(Waiting Room Balcony)

Kakashi's visible eye widened slightly as he said "That's… the Rasengan."

Kushina let her smile reappear before she glanced over at Kakashi and said "That's right Kakashi. Now you see that this match has elevated to a whole other level. Now watch as Naruto gives everyone a taste of his power."

"And that's when they'll realize what a mistake they made." added Tsunade as she got a smile of her own when she thought about the look on everyone's faces when they realize what a mistake it was to discard Naruto like that.

(Arena Floor)

Sasuke got an annoyed look on his face as he said "And why would I care who your father is dobe?"

Naruto looked Sasuke right in the eyes before he got a smile on his face and said "You should! He was one of the greatest hero's this village ever had!"

"What the hell are you babbling about? If your father was such a GREAT hero, why haven't I ever heard of him?" snapped an annoyed Sasuke as he narrowed his eyes and waited for an answer.

The blue sphere of chakra continued to grow in size and as Naruto's smirk got bigger he said "Oh you know who he is Sasuke-teme. He's gone by many names; his enemies called him 'Konoha's Yellow Flash', while his friends knew him as Namikaze Minato."

When Naruto saw the look of shock cross Sasuke's face he added "That's right Sasuke-teme, my father was none other than the Yondaime Hokage!!"

The crowd was stunned into silence as many of the shinobi present took a closer look at Naruto and started to see the similarities between Naruto and the Yondaime.

Meanwhile Tsunade rubbed the bridge of her nose as she sighed "Way to go Naru-chan, the cats out of the bag now."

Kushina just shrugged her shoulders and looked over at Tsunade before she said "Well look at it this way. At least it won't be so easy for the council to deny his claims now."

"That's not the point! You know as well as I do that Yondaime-sama had a lot of enemies. Once word gets out about who Naru-chan's father is, we won't have a moments piece." said Tsunade as she turned her gaze toward Kushina.

"Well we'll cross that bridge when we come to it Tsunade-sama. Just remember that no matter what happens I'll make sure Kumori always have your back." said Kushina as she turned her attention back to the match below.

"That's reassuring." said Tsunade as she nodded her head in approval and then turned her attention back to Naruto's match before she said "Because I got a feeling that we'll need your support in the future."

(Back in the arena)

Sasuke glared at Naruto for a moment before he shouted "You LIE! Yondaime-sama never had a child and I'll prove it right now!"

The moment Sasuke finished talking he charged Naruto at full speed. As Sasuke drew closer Naruto narrowed his eyes and brought his Rasengan to bare before he said "This ends now… RASENGAN!!"

"CHIDORI!!" shouted Sasuke as both techniques collided and enveloped both combatants in a sphere of blinding blue chakra with sparks of electricity skimming across the surface.

The two clashing energies finally reached their breaking point and exploded creating a massive dust cloud which blanketed the entire arena. When the dust cloud cleared it revealed a small crater where the two combatants clashed, and upon closer examination of this crater the crowd saw Naruto standing, in the center of the crater, over a barely conscious Sasuke.

Naruto dusted his left shoulder off as he looked down at the beaten and bruised Sasuke before he said "It's over."

"Winner, Uzumaki Naruto!" said Genma with a slight smile on his face as he pointed at Naruto.

The crowd remained in a stunned silence as Naruto used his left foot to turn Sasuke over on his stomach, which caused Sasuke to grown. That's when Naruto noticed that Sasuke's shirt was torn in such a way that caused the curse mark to be completely visible.

When Naruto saw the curse seal he started a series of hand-seals as he thought _'Alright mister guinea pig, let's see if Ero-sennin and myself know what we're doing.'_

As Naruto finished the last hand-seal a pale blue, almost a moonlight type glow, enveloped his right hand before he placed his hand over the curse seal and said "Tenrai Shi-ru Kaihou!" (Divine Seal Release)

The moment Naruto's hand touched the curse seal Sasuke screamed out as he felt an agonizing pain flow through his body.

(Hokage's Booth)

The Kazekage grabbed his chest and grunted as if he were in pain. This action caused Sarutobi to look over at the Kazekage and with a curious look on his face asked "Is something wrong Kazekage-sama?"

Almost immediately the Kazekage brought his hand down to his side and sat up straight before he turned to Sarutobi and said "Oh it's nothing really. It seems I ate something that didn't agree with me, and now it's coming back to haunt me."

"Are you sure? Our renowned medic Tsunade is here and I'm sure I could convince her to come up and give you a quick examination." offered Sarutobi as he got a gentile smile on his face.

"That won't be necessary, I can already feel it passing as we speak. So there's no need to trouble one so renowned as Tsunade with such a small problem." replied the Kazekage and when he saw Sarutobi nod his head in agreement he turned his attention back to Naruto and narrowed his eyes as he thought _'Impossible! There's no way a little runt like you could know a Fuuinjutsu powerful enough to destroy MY curse seal!' _

The Kazekage's eyes then widen in shock before he continued _'Wait does this mean he found HIS fabled jutsu vault? If that's true then it's a good thing I made plans to take care of that brat, because if he did indeed find that jutsu vault then he'll become an even greater threat in the future.'_

(Arena Floor)

Naruto continued to keep his hand pressed against the curse seal and after a few moments a small smile crossed his face as he saw pale blue cracks appear within the curse seal. Mere moments after that Sasuke let out a blood curtailing scream as the curse seal shattered into small fragments and then faded into oblivion.

As the pale blue glow faded form Naruto's hand he got a big smile on his face and said "SWEET!! It actually worked! I guess Ero-sennin really DOES know what he's doing!"

(Hokage's Booth)

Sarutobi leaned back in his chair and got a smile on his face as he thought _'It really did work. This is great! That means there's still a chance I can save her.'_

(Arena Floor)

Genma walked up beside Naruto and placed his right hand over his kunai pouch ready for anything to happen as he asked "And what did you just do Uzumaki-san?"

Naruto's smile never left his face as he turned to face Genma before he said "You know about the MARK Sasuke-teme got during the second part of the exams right?"

When Naruto saw Genma nod his head he continued "Well Ero-sennin and myself found and completed this really cool Fuuinjutsu, it's like the ultimate seal release jutsu. So basically I freed you precious Uchiha of his burden."

Genma brought his right hand up to the senbon in his mouth before he got a smirk on his face and said "Humph, it that right? Well how about a little more warning next time? For a moment there I thought that you might actually kill him."

"Nah, I wouldn't do that here. Besides I really don't want to give YOUR council any more reasons to call for my death. They already have enough as it is." said Naruto before he started to head off towards the waiting room.

(Waiting Room Balcony)

Kakashi just stared at Naruto for a moment before he muttered "I don't believe it. To think that Naruto has learned Sensei's jutsu to such a degree…"

Raven got a cocky smile behind her mask as she put her hands on her hips and said "You haven't seen anything yet. From what I've heard Kushina-sama has been working with Naruto-sama on completing Sensei's jutsu."

"What?!" stated Kakashi as his visible eye widened in shock and he turned to Raven for confirmation.

"That's right Kakashi we've been working on adding his wind element to the Rasengan. So you should just be thankful Naruto-kun didn't use that against your UCHIHA." said Kushina as she walked over to the pair and got a smile on her face, while she thought _'Though I will admit that the jutsu's only at about fifty percent completion. But it's still powerful despite the fact that Naruto-kun hasn't found an effective way to deliver it yet.'_

Kushina was brought out of her thoughts when Kakashi said "But how could he complete the training for such a jutsu in so little time? I mean even with the aid of Kage Bunshin no Jutsu it would still take a considerable amount of time to create such a jutsu."

"That may be true Kakahsi, but you're forgetting one crucial thing." said Kushina as she put her right hand on her hip.

"And that is?" asked a curious Kakashi.

Kushina let her smile get a little bigger as she said "Naruto-kun's uncanny ability to learn things that should be beyond his reach."

(Arena Roof)

Itachi looked down at the scene before him through the openings of his straw hat before he closed his eyes and reflected on the past.

(Flashback- almost 7 years ago- Uchiha Compound)

In a dark and shadow covered room, who's only light source was the moonlight coming from the nearby window, Itachi stood over the bloody and battered form of his mother, Uchiha Mikoto. Mikoto slowly turned her head to look up at Itachi before she coughed up some blood and then motioned him to come closer. Once Itachi got down on one knee Mikoto put her bloody hand on his left knee and while the blood from a forehead wound continued to run down the side of her face she weakly muttered "P-promise… promise me that… that no matter what… you'll fulfill our vow…"

Itachi remained silent and looked at his mother for a moment before he simply nodded his head. When Mikoto saw this her lips curled into a weak smile before her eyes glossed over and lost their shine. Once Mikoto's lifeless hand fell to the floor Itachi stood up and unsheathed his sword before he started towards the door that lead to the rest of the compound.

(End Flashback)

As the crowd got over their shock and started to muttered amongst themselves, Itachi opened his eyes and as he turned to leave he said "Come Kisame, we have more important things to take care of."

"More important than our mission?" asked Kisame as he got a perplexed look on his face.

Itachi stopped in his tracks before he looked over his shoulder and said "Yes, I think Leader-sama would be more interested in finding out how Naruto-kun managed to learn one of the Yondaime's Fuuinjutsu. When we were informed that all such scrolls were already in our possession."

Kisame looked at Itachi for a moment before he said "Wait, are you saying that HE was holding out on us?"

"I'd say it's time we pay Danzou a visit and find out." said Itachi as he jumped off the Arena roof and headed off towards 'Ne' Headquarters with Kisame close behind him.

(Just Outside The Waiting Room)

As Naruto approached the waiting room he saw Yugito leaning against the wall right next to the waiting rooms finely crafted oak door. When he saw the serious look on her face he thought _'This can't be good.'_

Yugito pushed herself off the concrete wall and started to walk towards Naruto as she said "Tell me the truth, was the Yondaime Hokage really your father? Or was that just some bullshit you said to throw your opponent off?"

Naruto just stared straight into Yugito's eyes and said "The Yondaime was my father."

"Then why aren't you a shinobi of this village? Surely your father would have wanted it that way." said Yugito as she tilted her head to the right and got a curious look on her face.

Naruto just stared at her in disbelief for a moment before he said "You mean you don't know? But Kaasan said that Kumo always does it's research on their potential allies."

Yugito got an aggravated look on her face before she sighed "Yeah well about that… we weren't able to find out anything about your past before Tsunade-sama took you in. The fact that you didn't use your clan name up until now did make it a bit harder for us, but the only thing we found out was that you were an orphan. We couldn't find any record of your birth, medical records were nonexistent. We couldn't even find out what your daily life was like. Hell it was like you didn't even exist up until nearly ten years ago."

"What? That's impossible." said a confused Naruto as a look of disbelief appeared on his face.

"I know, but that doesn't change the fact that all records pertaining to your early life are just… gone. Whoever did this did such a thorough job that the only way anyone could get information about you, is through the people of this village. And for some reason they're tight lipped about you." said Yugito.

Naruto crossed his arms over his chest and said "Well the villagers I'm not really surprised about. They never did like me much and the old man would punish anyone he caught mistreating me. But what really bothers me is those missing records. Heh, but now that I think about it whoever got rid of them actually did me a favor."

Yugito gave Naruto a curious look before she said "How so?"

"Up until now the only people that can identify me live in this village, and since they thought I was dead they wouldn't have given me a second thought. So with those records gone no one would have been able to tie me to this village, I basically had a clean slate." said Naruto as he reflected on this information.

But before their conversation could continue, the waiting room door opened and Temari walked out shortly followed by Haku. When Haku saw Naruto she walked over to him and gave him a quick hug before she said "There you are Naruto-kun. We were wondering what was taking you so long."

Naruto's cheeks turned a bright shade of red and a smile crossed his face as he said "Your match is up already Haku-chan?"

Haku nodded her head in conformation as she said "Yeah the moment the medics got Sasuke out of the arena, the proctor said the semi-finals would start and for Temari-san, and myself to come to the arena floor."

"Well then I won't delay you any further. But listen THEY should be making their move soon, so be on your guard… I'd never be able to forgive myself if anything happened to you." said Naruto as he put his hand under her chin.

When Haku saw the worried look in Naruto's eyes she got a reassuring smile on her face and said "Don't worry Naruto-kun when it happens I'll be ready. This is what we've been training for after all. Also I have a very good reason to survive the upcoming events."

Naruto got a curious look on his face and asked "And what would that be?"

Haku leaned in and gave Naruto a quick peck on the cheek before she said "The date you promised me, remember? Now I have to get going my match will start soon wish me luck ok?"

As Haku walked past Naruto and made her way down to the arena, Naruto brought his hand up to his cheek and said "Good luck Haku-chan."

Once Haku was out of sight Naruto suddenly remembered that Yugito was still there. Naruto then turned to face Yugito and when he saw the look on her face he quickly said "What?"

Yugito gave Naruto a questioning look before she put her hand on her hips and said "And when did you two become so close?"

"I really don't think that's any of your business." shot back a defensive Naruto.

Yugito brought her right hand up to her heart in mock pain before she playfully said "That hurts Naruto-KUN, and here I thought we were forming a bond."

When Naruto heard the playful tone in her voice he shook his head and let out a deep sigh before he said "You're enjoying this aren't you?"

Yugito immediately got a sly smile on her face and said "Yup!"

"I figured, but we have to get going Haku-chan's match is going to start soon and I don't want to miss it." said Naruto as he started to walk to the waiting room oak door behind Yugito.

As Naruto walked past her Yugito said "Well I'll see you once the FUN starts until then I'll get into position."

"Alright, I'll see you then." said Naruto as he opened the door and entered the waiting room.

(Arena Floor)

Haku stood in the center of the arena and locked eyes with Temari before she said "Let's have a good match ok."

"I just hope you put up a better fight than the last girl I fought." said Temari as she put her right hand on her fan that was on her back.

Haku got into her fighting stance as she said "Don't worry, I just hope you can keep up."

The moment the two opponents stopped talking Genma lowered his right hand and said "BEGIN!"

(Waiting Room Balcony)

Naruto leaned on the railing when he suddenly saw feathers floating in front of his eyes. The moment he started to feel drowsy however he shot straight up and brought his hands together to form a hand-seal before he said "Kai!" (Release)

He then looked around the arena and noticed that most of the audience was already asleep, before he turned to Tsunade and said "Kaasan this is…!"

"I know Naru-chan, it's Genjutsu… Well it looks like they're finally making their move." said Tsunade as she turned her gaze to the Hokage's booth.

(Hokage's Booth)

The two Kage's looked at each other before the Kazekage said "Well then… shall we begin?"

Suddenly the Kazekage's two body bodyguards charged forward and pulled out cylindrical smoke grenades before they pulled the pins and tossed them over in front of Sarutobi. The moment the grenades exploded it covered the Hokage's Booth in a huge cloud of smoke.

(Waiting Room)

Naruto turned his attention to the Hokage's Booth just in time to see a squad of ANBU make their way up there before he turned his attention to Haku, who was still down in the arena, and shouted "Haku-chan it's time!!"

(Arena Floor)

Haku looked up at the balcony and nodded her head before she turned her attention back to Temari just in time to see Baki and Gaara land right in front of Temari. As Baki kept his eyes on Genma he said "You two know what to do. I'll handle this guy, now go and complete your mission."

"I go only to verify my existence." said an emotionless Gaara as he turned and headed for the arena exit.

As Gaara continued towards the exit Baki glanced at Temari and said "No matter what happens make sure no one stops Gaara from using THAT form."

Temari got a scared look on her face before she slowly nodded her head in agreement and said "I won't fail."

The moment Temari went after Gaara, Haku shifted her position and prepared to jump to the waiting room balcony. But before she could do anything Genma stepped in front of her and said "This is a Konoha matter, Shinobi from other villages shouldn't get evolved."

Haku got a smile on her face as she said "You'd be surprised how many villages Oto's pissed off."

As Haku jump up to the balcony she noticed Genma get a curious look on his face before he turned his attention back to Baki.

The moment Haku landed on the balcony she noticed that Akira, NiYal, Anika, and Tsunami had already arrived. As she approached the group Kushina was already giving orders. "Akira I want you and your team to meet up with Crow and help him protect all the children that are being evacuated form the academy. Out of all the people in this village they are the only ones that deserve our protection."

Akira nodded her head and signaled her team to move out before she said "Hai Kushina-sama, we'll protect them to the best of our ability."

Once Akira and her team left Kushina turned to Shizune and said "Shizune I'd like you to join up with Zabuza deal with anyone that tries to attack the Hospital."

Shizune got a curious look on her face as she said "You mean Zabuza-san actually agreed to help guard all the injured people at the hospital?"

Kushina got a smile on her face and said "Well I did have to twist his arm a little… literally. Now as for you Naruto-kun, I'd like you to…"

"I'm going after Gaara." interrupted Naruto as he made eye contact with Kushina to show that he wouldn't take no for an answer.

Tsunade walked up beside Naruto and put her hand on his shoulder as she got a smile on her face before she said "You're going to try and save Gaara aren't you?"

"Yeah, I can't help but feel I could have turned out like that, had I stayed in this village." said Naruto as he got a far off look on his face.

"Naruto-kun…" whispered Haku who got a sympathetic look on her face before she came to a decision. Haku then got a determined look on her face and walked up beside Naruto as she said "I'm with Naruto-kun on this. No one should be made to suffer like that."

When Kushina saw the determined look on both of their face she got a smile on her face and said "You're determined to do this huh? What happens if Gaara doesn't want to be saved."

Naruto's determination was reflected in his eyes as he looked Kushina in the eyes and said "I WILL save him."

Kushina got a reflective look in her eyes as she put her right hand on Naruto's head and let her smile get bigger before she said "You're just like you father. Always eager to put his life on the line in order to save others. Just don't take any unnecessary risks alright."

"You know me." said Naruto as he gave Kushina a thumbs up before he turned to Haku and added "Come on Haku-chan, lets get going."

As Naruto and Haku jumped off the balcony in pursuit of Gaara, Kushina turned to Tsunade and said "You've raised him well Tsunade-sama. Even after everything that's happened to him he still so full of compassion and kindness."

"Yeah Naru-chan's got a fierce determination and a desire to never give up. " said Tsunade with a hint of pride in her voice.

Kushina shifted her gaze to the smoke filled Hogake Booth before she said "Well Tsunade-sama I think it's time for Orochimaru to see he pissed off the wrong people. Raven give the signal to start the operation."

"Hai Kushina-sama." said Raven as she charged her chakra into a small orb and threw it into the sky. Once it reached the apex of the toss it exploded into a bright blue flash.

(Forest outside of Konoha)

When Hawk saw the bright blue flash in the sky he turned to face all the shinobi behind him before he and said "Alright boys that's the signal, Take'em!"

The shinobi present all nodded their heads and moved to their respective targets.

A short distance from Hawks unit a Suna Jounin scanned the tree line and thought he saw movement, as he narrowed his eyes to look closer he suddenly felt the cold metal of a kunai pressed up against his neck. Before the Jounin could even react Hawk moved the kunai in one swift motion slitting the Jounin's neck. As the Suna jounin's lifeless body fell to the ground Hawk turned to see that the rest of his troops had caught the enemy shinobi off guards and were making quick work of them. That's when Hawk noticed movement out of the corner of his eye and saw a group of Suna shinobi making a break for it.

Aa the two shinobi jumped form tree to tree the one in the lead said "Come on move it we need to warn the others about this."

When his teammate didn't respond he looked over his shoulder only to see Hawk pull a kunai out of his partner's chest. Then he saw Hawk jerk is hand outward before a sharp pain coursed through his leg and sent him tumbling to the forest floor.

The moment the Suna shinobi hit the ground Hawk was right beside him and pulled his kunai out of the Suna shinobi, but before he could deliver the killing blow the shinobi got a smirk on his face as he opened up his vest to reveal that his chest was completely cover with explosive tags.

Hawk's eye widened in shock and he quickly jumps back to get some distance as the tags went off and create a massive explosion. As all the dust settled Hawk dusted himself off just as one of his troopers came over and said "Are you alright sir?"

"Yeah I'm alright, but the other Suna and Oto teams were sure to have heard that. And that means our job just got a lot harder." said Hawk as he looked into the forest in the direction of Konoha.

(Meanwhile at the Hokage's Booth)

The Anbu Squad hand made quick work of the Kazekage's bodyguards, but as they approached the booth the Kazekage jumped up to the roof with Sarutobi in tow, a kunai pressed up against Sarutobi's neck.

This caused the squad to hesitate for a brief moment, and that was all that was needed; as four figures, three men and one women, came out of the cut in half bodyguards and went to the four corners of the roof before they did a series of hand-seals and said "Ninpo: Shishi Enjin!" (Ninja Art: Four Violet Flames Battle Formation)

As the Barrier came up one of the ANBU members tried to get in before it was completed. Sadly he was unable to do so and got incinerated by the barrier. The ANBU captain looked at the barrier for a moment before he said "Damn there's got to be a way through that."

Sarutobi looked over at the Kazekage and asked "Do you really intend to ignite a war? What about our treaty?"

"Treaties are just meant to lull your enemy into letting their guard down." replied the Kazekage.

Sarutobi continued to look the Kazekage in the eyes as he said "It's still not to late Kazekage-sama, we can still end this with Negotiations. There's no need to spill anymore blood."

"You really are a feeble minded old fool aren't' you… Sarutobi-sensei." said the Kazekage as he ripped off his own face to reveal that it was really Orochimaru.

Sarutobi got a very serious look on his face as he said "Old fool? Your arrogance surprises me Orochimaru. I really thought you would have figured it out by now."

Orochimaru got a confused look on his face and said "What are you talking about Sarutobi-sensei?"

"I'm not Sarutobi-sensei." said Sarutobi as he quickly grabbed Orochimaru's arm and the twisted his body so that he flipped Orochimaru over his shoulder.

Orochimaru rotated his body so that he landed on his feet when he touched the ground. He then narrowed his eyes as he saw Sarutobi go up in a puff of smoke. Then moment the smoke cleared Orochimaru's eyes widened in shock for it revealed the last person he expected to see, a person with long spiky white hair and a scroll attached to his back. So he narrowed his eyes at this person and snarled "Jiraiya!"

Jiraiya brought his left hand up to his neck and moved his head left in right to get the kinks out before he got a serious look on his face and said "It's been awhile hasn't it Orochimaru?"

"Where's the old man?!" snapped Orochimaru as he got an aggravated expression on his face.

Jiraiya let a smile appear on his face as he said "Right where he should be. Leading his forces against the invasion."

(Roof of the Hokage Tower)

Sarutobi looked out over the village and saw smoke rising from the east Gate so he turned to Ibiki and said "Send squads three and four to the East Gate to reinforce that position. Once we know all the civilians have been evacuated we'll begin our counter attack."

"Hai Hokage-sama, your orders will be carried out. But I do have one question, what do you think that light meant that appeared overtop the stadium a few moment ago?" asked Ibiki as he signaled one of his subordinates to relay the orders.

Sarutobi looked over in the direction of the stadium, but before he could reply a chunin messenger arrived and said "Hokage-sama! Hokage-sama! We've just received a report that there is some fierce fighting taking place in the forest outside of Konoha!"

"But we don't have any shinobi in that area. Any idea on who is fighting?" asked Sarutobi as he turned his full attention on the messenger.

The messenger took a couple of deep breaths before he said "Unfortunately no Hokage-sama, our reports are only fragment but we did see a mass explosion a little while ago just outside the village and that's when we noticed two groups fighting. You could barely make them out because of the distance but we did see one figure dressed all in black."

"Dressed all in black you say? Hmmm… I wonder." replied Sarutobi as he brought his hand up to his chin in a thinking position before he got a smile on his face.

When Ibiki saw this he gave Sarutobi a curious look asked "What is it Hokage-sama? Do you know who's attacking who out there?"

"Not exactly Ibiki, but if my hunch is right then this group has just changed the dynamics of the battle." said Sarutobi as he turned to look Ibiki in the eyes.

Before Ibiki could ask any more about this another messenger landed on the rooftop and said "Hokage-sama, we're receiving reports form all over about fierce fighting taking place outside of the village walls. All of these spots are suspected enemy staging points.

Sarutobi's smile got even bigger as he said "Ah! So it seems were being aided after all."

"What do you mean Hokage-sama? Who would come to our aid when we didn't send out a request for any?" asked Ibiki, who was curious to find out the answer.

Sarutobi's gaze once again fell upon the Chunin exam stadium and only said "Kumori."

(A few blocks from the Stadium)

As Naruto and Haku landed on one of the tiled rooftops, Naruto scanned the area for any sign of Gaara. That's when he saw both Gaara and Temari off in the distance jump down onto the street below in the direction of the main gate. Naruto got an annoyed look on his face and said "Damn! If we don't hurry we're going to lose them!"

"Don't worry Naruto-kun I know we'll catch up to them soon." said Haku before she took a quick glance over her shoulder. She then shifted her gaze over to Naruto before she whispered "Naruto-kun, we're being followed."

Naruto quickly nodded his head in agreement before he focused some of Kyuubi's chakra into his nose and said "Shit! You're right, and if I've mastered this little technique of Baa-chan's, my nose is telling me we have two squads of enemy shinobi on our tale."

When Haku heard this she brought her hand up to her chin before she came to a decision. She lifted her head up and said "You go on ahead Naruto-kun, I'll deal with our pursuers."

"But Haku-chan…" said Naruto before he was silenced by Haku's right index finger on his lips.

Haku removed her finger and looked Naruto in the eyes before she said "We can't let Gaara get that far ahead, if we don't catch up with him I'm sure he'll release IT'S chakra. You better than anyone can imagine what he'll do in his present state of mind. So go on ahead and I'll catch up later…ok?"

"But…"

"No buts Naruto-kun, I can take care of myself. You just make sure to make it through this, I'm still looking forward to that date you promised me." said Haku with a hint of worry in her voice.

When Naruto saw the look in her eyes he got a faint smile on his face and put his right hand under her chin and said "Alright you win Haku-chan, I'll go on ahead. And I promise that when this is all over, I'll take you to the best place I can think of."

"Good, now get going they'll be here any minute." said Haku as Naruto simply nodded his head and then headed off after Gaara.

The moment Naruto was out of sight eight Oto shinobi surrounded Haku on the roof. As Haku surveyed her surroundings the Oto leader said "Give up and tell us were the brat is, and we may let you live."

Haku shifted her attention to the leader of the group before she calmly said "It's you who should give up. I'm the one with the advantage here."

The Oto leader couldn't help but chuckle at this comment and once he settled down he said "YOU have the advantage little girl? From what I see you're the one outnumbered and surrounded."

"Superior numbers doesn't always give you the advantage. This is you last chance surrender now… or face the consequences." said Haku as her voice became as cold as ice.

The Oto leader got a pissed off look on his face and threw a kunai at Haku as he growled "You want my answer, well here it is!"

As the kunai imbedded itself right into Haku's heart, the Oto leader got a smug look on his face, but that expression soon turned to one of shock as Haku dissolved into water before becoming a thick mist that blanketed the area.

"You had your chance, now you must pay for your actions." said the ice cold voice of Haku as it resonated throughout the mist and gave the impression of being everywhere and nowhere at the same time.

Suddenly Haku appeared behind one of the Oto shinobi and coldly said "You're first."

The resulting scream lead all the other shinobi to that spot, and that's where they saw their comrade with two senbon imbedded in the flesh on his neck. The Oto leader motioned for one of his subordinates to check for vitals. The subordinate quickly followed orders and knelt down beside the fallen shinobi before he checked for a pulse. Once he was finished the subordinate shook his head and said "He's dead sir."

The moment he finished his report two more senbon came out of nowhere and nailed the subordinate in the throat. As he fell lifelessly to the ground Haku said "Winter can kill even the strongest of men."

The Oto leader franticly scanned the area in hopes of pinpointing where the voice was coming from as he said "You're not winter!! Winter is just a season! And you , you little brat, your just a little girl! Once we find you, you won't stand a chance."

"Not winter huh? Why don't I show you just how winter like I can be. Hyouton: Koori Mizuumi Hitoya!" (Ice Style: Ice Lake Prison) came Haku's reply as the Oto leader felt the temperature within the mist drop rapidly.

And once it was cold enough to where you could see your breath, the Oto leader suddenly felt a chill on his lower legs as if he stepped into a puddle of ice water. Once he looked down however he got a look of shock and horror on his face as he saw that the there was a layer of ice, at least three to four inches thick, attached to his legs that came up from the ground to about halfway between his knee and his ankle.

"What the?! I can't move!" shouted the Oto leader as he struggled to free himself, and when he decided that he couldn't free himself he looked around to see if anyone could help him break the ice only to discover that all of his men within his sight were in the same situation that he was.

Just then Haku appeared in front of the leader and raised her arm. The leader looked on in confusion at first but that look soon turned to one of terror as he saw the mist in front of him harden and to ice before it took on the shape of two senbon, this act caused him to redouble his efforts of escape.

When Haku saw this she merely looked the leader in the eyes and said "It's useless to struggle. All of your men are caught in my jutsu and are in the same situation as you."

"You bitch! Once I get out of this I'm going to make you pay!" shouted the angry Oto leader.

Haku just continued to stare at the leader with a cold look in her eyes and said "You won't get the chance."

She then extended her fingers which caused all the senbon to move forward at blinding speed, and before any of the shinobi could react the senbon impaled the flesh of their necks.

The moment the senbon made contact Haku canceled her jutsu's, and as the mist cleared and the ice melted the bodies of the remaining shinobi fell lifelessly to the ground. Haku then walked over to the Oto leader and knelt down beside him and proceeded to bind his hands and feet as she said "You may be in a death-like state, but I'm still not taking any chances."

Once Haku finished binding the other shinobi she dusted her hands off and said "You guys won't cause us anymore problems. Maybe we'll get some useful information out of you later, but right now I need to catch up with Naruto-kun and give him any help he requires."

(With Naruto)

As Naruto jumped from rooftop to rooftop he spotted Gaara and Temari off in the distance. When he saw the sand take on the shape of a giant sphere that completely encompassed Gaara he got a worried look on his face and thought _'I'd better hurry! It looks like Gaara's already started whatever he has planned.'_

Naruto was brought out of his thoughts when he noticed ten shuriken heading right for him. He quickly stopped his forward motion and did several back flips as the shuriken imbedded themselves into the roofing tile. Once Naruto dodged the last of the shuriken, a strange voice said "I'm impressed that you managed to dodge my attack Naruto."

Just then a figure wearing a white cloak with a hood that completely cover the upper portion of his face landed about ten feet in front of Naruto. The man then focused his attention on the headband Naruto was wearing before he said "Hmm…? Why aren't you a shinobi of Konoha Naruto?"

Naruto got into his fighting stance and said "And why would I want to be a shinobi of this place. It's caused me nothing but misery and pain. Now will you kindly stand aside I have places to be."

The man just lowered his head slightly and muttered "I see… than what I feared has come to pass."

Naruto cocked an eyebrow at this and said "What?"

The white-cloaked figure got into his own fighting stance and with a hint of sorrow on his voice said " I'm sorry but I can't let you pass Naruto. I've been given strict orders to deal with you, and I have no choice but to carry them out…forgive me."

Then before Naruto could even blink he felt the man's fist make contact with his chin in a vicious uppercut that sent Naruto into the air. Naruto quickly rotated his body so that he landed on his feet and as he rubbed his sore chin he narrowed his eyes and thought _'Damn he's a lot faster than he looks!'_

"**Be careful kit, I'm getting a strange feeling form this man. So you better stay on your toes." **warned Kyuubi as she looked down into the water just outside of her cage and stared at the white cloaked figure reflected in it.

'_Well duh! Thanks for stating the obvious Baa-chan. Now if you have any USEFUL pieces of advice please don't hesitate to share.'_ thought Naruto, but before Kyuubi had a chance to respond the figure came in and did a powerful side kick, which barely grazed Naruto's ribcage as he sidestepped out of the way.

The white-cloaked figure casually went into a standing position and said "You'll have to do better than this Naruto otherwise you won't last much longer."

Naruto got a smile on his face and said "Don't worry I'm just getting warmed up."

(Chunin Exam Stadium)

Jiraiya continued to stare down Orochimaru when he noticed Kushina and Tsunade land on the rooftop next to the ANBU squad. But when he saw Orochimaru get a snake let smile on his face Jiraiya said "What are you so happy about?"

"Jiraiya, Jiraiya, Jiraiya, did you really have to go so far as impersonating Sarutobi-sensei, just so you could get a chance for a rematch? You're really living up to your old name as the 'Town Madman'. And I see you were even foolish enough to assemble an audience to witness your defeat. Ku, Ku, Ku!" snickered Orochimaru as he gestured toward Kushina and Tsunade.

Jiraiya got a serious look on his face and started to do a series of hand-seals as he said "This won't be like last time Orochimaru. Doton: Yomi Numa!" (Earth Style: Swamp of the Underworld)

As the tiles of the rooftop started liquefy and turn into a muddy swamp Orochimaru quickly jumped toward Jiraiya and with his snake like smile still on his face he said "You'll have to do better than that Jiraiya!"

At the apex of his jump Orochimaru brought his right foot forward to kick Jiraiya in the face. The moment Jiraiya saw this he did a quick series of hand-seals and he said "Ninpo: Hari Jizou!" (Ninja art: Underworld Guardian spikes)

Jiraiya's hair suddenly grew longer and encompassed his body, it then grew rigid and spiky just as Orochimaru's foot made contact. Orochimaru winced from the pain of the spikes going through his foot before his neck grew longer and snake like. He then twisted his right leg in an attempt to push the hair aside and strike at Jiraiya's vulnerable neck. However much to Orochimaru's surprise the hair didn't even budge and all he got was a mouthful of rigid hair.

Orochimaru quickly disengaged and after he spit out some hair he wiped the base of his mouth before his lips curled into a cruel smile and he said "Well now this is a surprise. I never thought you could get this strong Jiraiya. You just made this fight so much more interesting."

Meanwhile just outside of the barrier Tsunade grabbed the ANBU captain by his collar and then used her left hand to point at the barrier before she said "Why the hell haven't you taken that thing down yet?!"

"Quite frankly, we don't know how to take it down Tsunade-sama." replied the calm and composed ANBU captain.

Tsunade's right eyebrow twitched slightly at this comment but before she could say anything Kushina walked up to the barrier and said "It seems the only way to take down this barrier is to take out one of the four shinobi responsible for putting it up, but from the looks of it they've placed the barrier around themselves on the inside as well."

Tsunade released the ANBU captain and came up right beside Kushina and asked "Isn't there someway we can break the barrier? Because I want to get my hands around that little snakes neck for what he did to Naru-chan."

Kushina studied the barrier for a moment before she said "I don't know. I've never seen a barrier like this before so it will take some time to figure out it's weak points. So Jiraiya is going to have to dish out the punishment all on his own until we can break through."

Orochimaru's smile got even more twisted and snake like as he said "Oh I know the perfect move to use on you now. And how ironic that it will be THEM to be the ones to do the deed."

Jiraiya narrowed his eyes at Orochimaru and said "What'd you mean?"

"It quite simple really, once THEY finish with you I'll use THEM to wipe out this village, oh the irony of it all. Now witness the instrument of your destruction! Kuchiyose: Edo Tensei!" (Summoning Art: Resurrection to the Impure World) said Orochimaru as he formed the needed hand-seals and started to channel his chakra.

(With Naruto)

Naruto once again picked himself off the ground as the white-cloaked figure said "You're reflexes are good, but your speed is lacking."

"My speed is lacking huh? Well let's see how you like this." said Naruto as he wiped some dirt from his chin before he started to channel his chakra the way Kushina showed him and then launched an attack with blinding speed.

The white-cloaked figure got a faint smile on his face at Naruto's increase in speed but when Naruto launched a spinning back-kick he easily avoided it. Naruto pressed on his attack with a roundhouse kick which the white-cloaked figure ducked under. This didn't stop Naruto however as he quickly countered with another spinning back-kick followed up with an uppercut aimed at the man's chin.

However as the uppercut was about to make contact the white-cloaked figure suddenly disappeared before he reappeared behind Naruto and as he delivered his own roundhouse kick to Naruto's chest he said "Impressive, but your still to slow to keep up with me."

As Naruto rolled on the ground a glint from around Naruto's neck caught the man's eye, and upon closer inspection he noticed the Shodai's necklace. The white-cloaked figure was stunned for a moment before he got a reflective smile on his face and said "I see, you've really managed to gain Tsunade-sama's respect if she gave you that necklace. That's quite an achievement in and of itself Naruto."

Naruto quickly got to his feet and glared at the man as he said "Of course I have Kaasan's respect, and one day… I will surpass her! Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!!"

Naruto then channeled as much chakra as he could before he created several Kage Bunshins and charged the white-cloaked figure.

'_KAASAN?!'_ thought the figure who was so stunned by this revelation that he failed to block the kick to his midsection that was quickly followed by the sound of "U!"

"ZU!" "MA!" "KI!" was quickly added as three other Naruto clones delivered massive heal kicks that sent the white-cloaked figure up into the air.

The moment the white-cloaked figure was in the air the real Naruto landed a punch straight to the man's jaw with as much force as he could muster before he shouted "NARUTO RENDEN!!"

The force of the punch was so great that you could hear the sound of his jaw bone cracking as his head was twisted around in an inhuman manner before he slammed into the nearby building which sent pieces of debris and dust into the air.

(Chunin Exam Stadium)

Jiraiya's eyes widened in shock as he saw one coffin, with the word 'Sho' written on it, burst out of the ground and when he saw a second coffin, this time with the word 'Ni' written on it, came out of the ground he got a concerned look on his face and thought _'No! He's really mastered a jutsu that allows him to summon THEM here!'_

As the third and final coffin, this time with the word 'Yon' written on it, came out of the ground Jiraiya put his hands together to form a hand-seal as he said "I have to stop the third one no matter what!"

When Orochimaru saw this his snake like smile got bigger as he laughed "Ku, Ku, Ku, Ku! You're a fool Jiraiya! You can't stop what has already been summoned! Ku, Ku, Ku, Ku!"

Jiraiya looked on in horror as the third coffin finished coming out of the ground and as the third coffin slowly started to open Jiraiya got a sad look on his face and thought _'I failed, and now I'll be forced to fight YOU of all people…'_

(With Naruto)

Naruto and his clones scanned the hole in the wall, that the white-cloaked figure created upon when he impacted the wall, and when they saw no sigh of him one of the clones turned towards the real Naruto and said "Boss, do you think we got him?"

"I don't know…, but don't let your guard down now." said Naruto as he narrowed his eyes and continued to scan the hole for any signs of movement.

Naruto's eyes then widened in shock as he saw the silhouetted outline of the man walk towards him. As he stepped out of the hole and into the sunlight Naruto could clearly see the man's jaw hanging limply on his face with the man's skin being the only reason it had not fallen off completely.

Without any indication of pain at all the white-cloaked figure gabbed his broken jaw and with a sickening crunch, snapped it back into place. Once he moved his jaw around a couple of time he looked over at Naruto and in a sad tone of voice said "So it really is true… Tell me Naruto, how did Tsunade-sama become your Kaasan? What happened to Kushina-chan?"

"That's none of your business!" shouted all of the Naruto's before the charged in with as much speed as they could muster.

The white-cloaked figure shook his head at this and let out a sigh before he moved in and delivered an uppercut to one of the Naruto's who quickly disappeared in a puff of smoke. The man the proceeded to use a verity of punches and kicks to dispel all the other Kage Bunshins until there was only one Naruto left. The man then turned to face Naruto before he said "That was foolish Naruto, by now you should have realized that a direct attack wouldn't work on me. One would think that Tsunade-sama would have taught you that."

Naruto's only response was to smile before he said "She did…"

(Chunin Exam Stadium)

Jiraiya got a confused look on his face when the 'Yon' coffin lid finally hit the ground only to reveal that it was empty and that's when he said "What…?"

(With Naruto)

The white-cloaked figure got a shocked look on his face when this Naruto went up in smoke and then quickly turned around in time to see Naruto in the air behind him with a smile on his face and a massive blue chakra orb in his hand as Naruto shouted "Oodama Rasengan!!" (Big Ball Spiraling Sphere)

Naruto's smiling face soon turned to one of shock as the white-cloaked figure lifted his right hand and formed a Rasengan of his own before he launch it forward to meet Naruto's attack. The moment these two chakra energies met it resulted in a massive explosion that sent chunks of debris and dust high into the air.

(Chunin Exam Stadium)

Everyone turned there attention from the empty coffin to the massive explosion off in the distance. The moment Orochimaru saw the dust cloud he got an evil glint in his eyes and said "Ah I see he's already reached Tsunade's brat."

After Orochimaru's comment Tsunade's eyes widened in horror and she looked off toward the explosion and thought _'Naru-chan…'_

She then quickly looked over at Kushina and shouted "I'm going to help Naruto!!"

"Wait! You can't face him alone!" shouted Kushina as she turned just in time to see Tsunade jump off the roof and head towards the explosion.

Kushina quickly turned to face the ANBU captain before she said "I'm going to help Tsunade-sama. We have to stop HIM before it's too late!"

"Stop who?" asked the ANBU Captain as Kushina turned to leave.

Kushina looked over her shoulder at the Captain and said "No time to explain! Just watch the other two coffins and you'll have your answer."

Inside the Barrier Jiraiya saw Kushina jump off the roof before he turned his attention back to the other two coffins and as they slowly opened he thought _'Good luck you two. I just hope you can get there in time to save Naruto.'_

(With Naruto)

Naruto coughed and hacked as he waved his hand in front of his face in an attempt to get ride of the dust in the air. Once Naruto got enough of the dust away from his face he thought _'How the hell does that guy know the __Rasengan__?!'_

"**I don't know kit, but something isn't right here. He shouldn't even be alive after that punch to the jaw, you gave him. I know I saw his neck twist almost completely around, and yet he walked out of that hole like it was just another day at the beach. So be careful, if he can survive his head being twisted around who knows what else he can do?"** said Kyuubi as she started to get a sick feeling in the pit of her stomach at the implications of her warning.

Naruto however didn't hear a word of it, for he laid eyes upon the white-cloaked figure, who's hood had been blown off in the explosion, and saw a face that was burned into his memory. A face that was carved in stone in honor of his appointment to Hokage, a face with bright yellow hair and blue eyes that seem to sparkle in the sunshine.

Naruto's eyes widened in disbelief as he said "YOU!!"

The man got a sad look on his face and said "It's been a long time Naruto."

Meanwhile in her cage Kyuubi was in shock at the man reflected before her when she suddenly remembered something that Naruto had said.

(Flashback)

'_Damn it! As if things weren't complicated enough! We were just suppose to come in here take this exam, so we could find out why this Danzou guy wanted me dead, and now Kumo gets thrown into the mix! What's next?! Am I going to have some kind of heartwarming reunion with my father?!'_

(End flashback)

Kyuubi shook her head as she remember other times Naruto had used that phrase and it turned out to be true and once she cleared her head of these thoughts she shouted **"Alright that's it Kit! From now on you're forbidden to say anything after what's next!!"**

Naruto however completely ignored Kyuubi's words as he narrowed his eyes at the man before him and said "Namikaze Minato."

Next Chapter: Sin's of the Father!

--

Authors note2: Well I hope you liked the Chapter and I hope to see you all next time.


	29. Chapter 29: Sin's of the Father!

"Speech"

'_Thoughts'_

**Demon/Summon/inner Sakura speech**

_**Demon/Summon thoughts**_

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or any of the characters created by Kishimoto, but all OC's are my own creation.

lpride21: Naruto's level is that of a typical average Jounin, but he lacked speed (at least until his training with Kushina). During his fight with Neji he held back his more powerful jutsu at Hinata's request, and he also wanted to find out why Neji hated Hinata, also at the end Naruto was able to move his entire body at about the same speed as Neji's hands (which is pretty fast since you have an easier time just moving the arms and hands at fast speeds compared to the entire body).

desslok69 : Really that's the trend now? I didn't know that. Anyway I do have a reason for bringing Minato back, I can't say any more than this or I'll give away too much of the story.

Dragon and Sword Master: Sorry but I can't really answer that without giving too much away, but I will tell you that I have plans for Tayuya.

Authors note: Sorry about the long wait I was really busy during the month of November and didn't have much free time to write, then my internet went down for two weeks. It just wasn't my month.

Now on with the story

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Chapter 29: Sin's of the Father!

Deep in the Forest outside of Konoha, Kin stood on the top branch of one of the trees and fixed her gaze in the direction of the explosion that happened a few moment ago before she thought _'So the invasion has already begun?'_

Kin then let out an aggravated sigh and scratched the back of her head before she thought _'Damn it what the hell am I still doing here?! That girl's comments couldn't be bothering me that much… could they?'_

**(Flashback- 6 A.M. on the morning of the exam)**

As the morning rays of sunshine started to peak through the windows, Kin's eyes shot open when she heard the door to her room open. The moment she got out of bed Naruto, Haku, Wolf, and Hawk came through the open door and entered the room. Kin looked at the group and got a stern look on her face before she said "And to what do I owe the honor of your visit at such an early hour?"

Wolf walked up to Kin and said "Kushina-sama has come to a decision about you."

"I see." said Kin as she got a defiant look in her eyes and got into her fighting stance before she added "I guess that means you've come to kill me huh? Well I won't go down without a fight!

Wolf shook her head and brought her hand up in a stopping motion before she said "Whoa hold up there girl. Kushina-sama decided to leave your fate up to the one who captured you, ok."

"The one who… captured me?" questioned Kin as she lowered her guard slightly and got a curious look on her face before she shifted her gaze over towards Naruto.

When Naruto saw Kin look in his direction he got a smile on his face and said "That's right… she left your fate up to me Kin-san."

"And what have YOU decided?" asked Kin as she raised her guard again and waited for his answer.

Naruto brought his right hand up to his chin before he got a serious look on his face and said "Hmmm… what have I decided? Well after talking it over with Haku-chan, who's gotten to know you so well over that past month, I've decided…"

Naruto then got a big smile on his face as he said "To let you go."

Kin got a curious look on her face as she said "You're letting me go, just like that? What's the catch?"

"No catch, As I said after talking it over with Haku-chan, coupled with your actions when Orochimaru came after you, I've decided to let you go. I just hope you're able to find some happiness in your life." said Naruto as his smile got a sincere quality to it.

Kin narrowed her eyes at Naruto and gestured towards Haku as she said "Happiness? Sounds like you've been talking to that silly girl for too long. That kind of sentimentality is for fools."

"Hey.." said Naruto before Haku put her hand on his shoulder and said "Let me handle this Naruto-kun."

"But…" said Naruto as he looked over his shoulder but when he saw the look on Haku's face he nodded his head and said "I understand, I'll leave this to you."

Haku got a faint smile on her face and mouthed the word 'Thank-you' before she turned her attention to Kin and with a stern look on her face she said "You think finding happiness is foolish do you? Well let me tell you something Kin-san, I've been down the survival road before and I know that it leaves a gnawing and empty void in the back of your mind. That cold and dark feeling is something I wouldn't wish on my worst enemy."

"SO, what's your point?" snapped an aggravated Kin as she put her hands on her hips and started to tap her left foot.

Haku closed her eyes and shook her head slightly before she opened them again and sighed "My POINT is, that once you find someone precious to you and give you life some meaning, the resulting happiness that follows fills that empty and cold void."

Kin shrugged her shoulders as she said "Humph, sounds like a load of crap to me."

"Crap huh? Well then why don't you come with us and find out for yourself?" countered Haku as she crossed her arms over her chest and gave Kin a look that just dared her to say no.

Kin eyed Haku for a moment before she said "And if I join you, what's in it for me?"

Haku's look never faltered as she said "You mean aside from having three square meals a day, a warm place to sleep at night, and the fact that you wouldn't have to worry about us knifing you in the back. The only other thing we can offer you is the chance to see what I've been talking about."

Kin got a questioning look on her face as she said "What? You think that just because you saved me from Orochimaru I'd trust you not to stab me in the back? Are you really that naïve?"

"Haku-chan's not naïve! We just figured that since we've always kept our word with you. You wouldn't be so suspicious of us." snapped Naruto as he gave Kin a harsh glare.

Kin shifted her attention to Naruto before she said "Trust doesn't come that easy kid."

Naruto got an annoyed look on his face but before he could respond Haku took a step towards Kin and said "That may be so, but wouldn't you'd rather risk that than go through the rest of your life with that cold and empty feeling?"

Kin hardened her gaze and crossed her arms over her chest before she said "Humph! You think THAT would cause me to change my mind?"

"I guess not…" mumbled Haku as she lowered her gaze to the floor.

When Naruto saw Haku's sad expression he came to a decision. He looked over at Kin and said "Well then I guess it's decided. Wolf and Hawk will escort you out of Konoha and release you in the woods before the invasion starts. Once your free you can go wherever you want."

As Naruto turned to leave Haku looked at Kin one last time before she said "Farewell then Kin-san. I wish you well on your travels, and if you should ever change your mind, and wish to see what it's like when you have someone special in your life. My offer will still stand."

**(End Flashback)**

Kin let out a sigh and shifted her gaze toward the sky and thought _'Does having someone precious in your life really effect you that much? It just seems that they would be a hindrance to me, but the idea of steady meals, and not having to worry about being stabbed in the back… does sound appealing.'_

**(Rooftop somewhere in Konoha)**

'_Shit! Shit! Shit! Shit! Shitshitshitshitshit! SHIT!! Of all the freaking people I have to run into why the hell did it have to be HIM?! Speaking of which… how the hell is he still alive?! I thought that jutsu he used to seal Baa-chan in me cost him his life.'_ thought Naruto but his thoughts where soon interrupted when he felt the cold metal of a kunai press up against is neck.

Naruto's eyes widened in fear before he slowly turned his head so he could look over his right shoulder and saw Minato standing there. He then got a look of horror on his face as he thought _'What the hell?! When did he get behind me? I didn't even see him move!'_

Minato got a solemn look on his face and said "You let yourself become distracted Naruto, and that will cost you your life."

But just as Minato was about to slit Naruto's throat, his left hand started to shake and after a few moments a visible strain appeared on his face before his fingers forcibly opened, this caused the kunai to fall from his hand. As the kunai fell to the ground Minato quickly shifted his position and landed a hard side kick to Naruto's back which sent him crashing to the ground.

Once Naruto skidded to a halt, about ten feet from where he was kicked, he picked himself off the ground, and turned to face Minato. He then narrowed his eyes before he wiped some dirt from his lip and with a little venom in his voice he said "Slitting my throat and having my blood spill out isn't good enough huh?! What… need to make the little 'DEMON' suffer more before you finish him off?!! HEH! That should make you the village's hero all over again!! "

'_Naruto… what did they do to you to cause this kind of reaction?'_ thought Minato before his eyes widened in realization and he mumbled "I see.. so not only was your family taken from you, but the villagers really did hold you in contempt. Then my worst fears have been realized…"

"What a minute!!" said Naruto as he suddenly realized what Minato was talking about. He then felt a boiling rage build inside before he narrowed his eyes and shouted "YOU MEAN YOU KNEW!!! You knew all along how I would be treated and YOU did nothing to prevent it!!"

Minato got a guilty look on his face and lowered his head slightly before he said "I suspected yes…, I knew how other Jinchuuriki were treated, but I had hoped our village would be different. I guess I was wrong."

"You GUESS you were wrong?!" growled Naruto as he clenched his teeth and balled his right hand into a fist before he thought _'That BASTARD! He…, he really did know how they were going to treat me and he did it anyway!!'_

Minato felt sick to his stomach when he saw the look of anger, pain and betrayal on Naruto's face. But when he took a step towards Naruto several senbon came out of nowhere and headed straight for him. Minato hopped backwards just in time for the senbon to miss him and imbed themselves into the roof tile at his feet. Minato casually looked in the direction the senbon came from just in time to see Haku land on the rooftop.

The moment Naruto saw Haku a look of panic crossed his face before he turned to face her and shouted "Haku-chan get out of here!! HE'S out of our league!!"

"Wha…?" was all Haku was able to say before Minato suddenly appeared behind her and delivered a chop to the back of her neck which rendered her unconscious.

As Haku collapsed to the floor Minato got a sad look on his face and muttered "I have no desire to hurt you… but I cannot let you interfere."

"Haku-chan!!!" shouted Naruto as he saw Haku's unconscious body hit the ground. When Naruto saw Minato start to kneel down to get closer to her, he clenched his fists so hard that they visibly started to shake and as the Shodai's necklace, around his neck, started to glow he shouted "Don't you dare lay one more **FINGER ON** **HER**!!"

The moment Minato felt a huge chakra surge he immediately shifted his gaze to the source of the surge, Naruto. His eyes widened slightly in surprise as he saw a mixture of blue and red Chakra swirl around Naruto, before a single chakra tail emerged. Then as even more chakra sprang forth from Naruto a second chakra tail formed, quickly followed by a third, and then a fourth tail.

As the fifth tail emerged Naruto's whisker like marks started to deepen and become bolder, his eyes turned from their normal blue color to blood red while his pupils stretched and elongated into a slits, his nails grew longer and became as sharp as a blade. When the fifth tail finally finished forming the red and blue chakra, swirling around Naruto took on the form of an anthropomorphic fox.

When the transformation was complete Naruto fixed his gaze on Minato and growled **"I don't care if you are the Yondaime Hokage! If you take one more step towards Haku-chan… I WILL KILL YOU!!"**

'_Naruto…'_ thought a wide eyed Minato before he got a smile on his face. He then glanced down at Haku and said "She really means a lot to you doesn't she Naruto?"

Naruto moved his fingers slightly before he narrowed his eyes and said **"This is your last warning! Back away from Haku-chan or else…"**

"Or else what Naruto… we both know you're not fast enough. So what do you plan to do?" asked Minato as his eyes widened in surprise when Naruto suddenly appeared in front of him and tried to nail him with a fist to the face.

Minato easily avoided the blow before he jumped away from Naruto to get some distance. He then carefully examined Naruto before he thought _'Interesting, he's so much faster than he was before, Kyuubi-sama's chakra couldn't have increased his speed that much… could it?'_

It was at this moment that Minato noticed that Naruto had moved between himself and the unconscious Haku. A faint smile appeared on Minato's face and as he got into his fighting stance he said "I see… you have indeed inherited the will of fire Naruto. Now let us see the strength of that resolve."

**(Chunin Exam Stadium) **

Jiraiya shifted his gaze between the two grayed out bodies of the Shodai and Nidaime, who had emerged from the coffins that Orochimaru had summoned just a few moments ago. He turned his attention toward Orochimaru, who still had his gaze fixed in the direction that Kushina went, and said "Have you sunk so low that you won't even fight your own battles Orochimaru?"

Orochimaru got a snake-like smile on his face and turned his attention towards Jiraiya before he said "Still resorting to your childish taunts eh? I see you haven't changed at all… but that doesn't matter now. With those two out of the way, no one can come to your rescue! Ku! Ku! Ku! Ku!"

Jiraiya's eyes grew wide in surprise as he said "You mean that you planned for Kushina and Tsunade to go save Naruto?!"

Orochimaru's smile got even bigger and said "Ah, I see even someone as feeble minded as you can even comprehend this huh Jiraiya?"

It was at this moment that the Nidaime slowly fixed his gaze on Jiraiya and with a dead tone in his voice said "Jiraiya? You've gotten so much older than the last time we met."

Meanwhile the Shodai slowly turned his head and looked over his shoulder at Orochimaru and with a dead tone in his voice said "So this stripling is the one who reanimated us… impressive."

The Nidaime kept his gaze on Jiraiya and with no emotion in his voice said "Then that means we must fight you… Jiraiya."

Jiraiya got a grim look on his face and shifted into his fighting stance as he said "Shodai-sama, Nidaime-sama, I am sorry for what I must do."

"Oh enough of this sentimental garbage. Why don't we get started?" said Orochimaru as he pulled out two kunai with tags attached to the hilts.

As Orochimaru drew closer the Shodai just stared straight ahead and with no emotion what so ever he said "So another war… even in this era."

Orochimaru got a smile on his face and as he jammed the kunai into the back of their heads he said "Heh, heh, heh, You know you like it."

The moment the kunais were embedded into their skulls, steam started to emit from the Shodai and Nidaime's bodies as color returned to their skin and life returned to them.

Jiraiya heightened his guard and narrowed his eyes as he thought _'Now that their souls have been suppressed they'll become perfect killing machines. I'll have to keep on my toes if I want to survive this.'_

Mere moments after Orochimaru removed his hands from the back of their heads, the Shodai did a series of hand-seals before he said "Mokuton: Daijurin no Jutsu!!" (Wood Style: Great Forest Technique)

A large mass of wooden spikes extended from the Shodai's arm, but just before the spikes made contact Jiraiya jumped over them and then did a handspring off the spikes. The momentum of the handspring was enough to propel himself towards the Hokages. As Jiraiya drew closer he did a series of hand-seals and said "Fuuton: Daitoppa!!" (Wind style: Great Breakthrough)

The Shodai and Nidaime shielded their faces as a powerful gust of wind came out of Jiraiya's mouth. The two Hokage's were caught off guard by the sheer force of the wind and got knocked off their feet.

The moment Jiraiya touched the ground he immediately turned to face the Shodai, who was to his left, before he did another series of hand-seals and said "Katon: Endan!" (Fire style: Fireball)

As the flames engulfed the Shodai, the Nidaime got to his feet and channeled his chakra as his hands formed the proper seals before he said "Suiton: Suiryuudan no Jutsu!" (Water style: Water Dragon Projectile Technique)

Jiraiya immediately turned around as a blue orb of chakra formed in his right hand before he charged at the Nidaime and said "Rasengan!"

The Rasengan plowed right through the water dragon, which sent the water flying in all directions, until it came in contact with the Nidaime's armor. The moment this happened the armor cracked and started to split before the Nidaime was sent flying across the roof until he came in contact with the barrier and burst into flames.

Jiraiya looked at the two burning bodies and when they didn't move a curious look crossed his face as he thought _'Is that it? I thought __Edo Tensei_ (Resurrection of the Impure World)_ could only be stopped by…'_

Jiraiya's thoughts were interrupted when he saw the two Hokages stand and as their burnt and damaged flesh started to regenerate, Jiraiya shifted back into his fighting stance and got a serious look on his face as he thought _'Well looks like I was right. It seems the only way to stop them is to remove the seal tags imbedded in their heads, but the question is… just how do I do that?'_

**(Several Blocks Away From The Stadium)**

Tsunade knocked another Oto Shinobi out of her way and continued to jump along the rooftops as she said "Damn it these guys are slowing me down!"

Just then Tsuande skidded to a halt as a man in a black cloak and wearing an ANBU mask landing right in front of her, he was quickly followed by at least eight Oto shinobi. Tsunade fixed her gaze on the one wearing the ANBU mask before she cracked her knuckles and said "Step aside or suffer the consequences."

The man wearing the ANBU mask slowly removed it and in a condescending voice said "I'm afraid I can't do that Tsunade-sama."

Tsunade's eyes widened in shock as she saw the silver hair and the round glasses on his face, she then narrowed her gaze at the man before she said "Kabuto…"

But before Tsuande could react a figure wearing a black cloak with a hood that kept the upper part of his face shrouded in shadow while a facemask covered the rest, landed in-between the two. The figure kept his gaze fixed on Kabuto as he said "Please leave this to me Tsunade-sama. Surely you've felt the use of Kyuubi-sama's chakra, and know the situation with Naruto-sama must be dire."

The moment the figure finished speaking Kushina landed beside Tsunade and took one look at the figure before she said "Where the hell have you been Shadow?! After you were released from the hospital you just disappeared!"

Shadow's gaze never left Kabuto as he said "My apologies Kushina-sama, but after my failure in the forest, I decided that some… personal training was in order."

"Personal training?" asked Kushina as she arced her right eyebrow.

Shadow nodded his head while he noted the position of all of the Oto shinobi, before he said "Hai Kushina-sama, I've been preparing myself for the moment Oto and Suna would attack. I WILL not fail you again…"

"Shadow…" said Kushina as she got a sorrowful expression on her face.

"Hey! We don't have time for this! Need I remind you who's after Naru-chan?" interrupted Tsunade as she kept her eyes of the group in front of them.

Kabuto used his middle finger to push up his glasses and as his lips curled into a smirk he said "Now, now, no need to rush them Tsunade-sama. After all they don't have long to live."

Kushina narrowed her eyes at Kabuto and said "Confident aren't we, Shadow why don't you show him just what he's up against."

"With pleasure Kushina-sama..." said Shadow as he did a series of hand-seals before he looked at Kabuto and added "I'm sure you'll remember this one Kabuto. Kage Heru Kourin no Jutsu!" (Shadow's Hell Descent)

Kabuto's eyes widened in recognition and he jumped out of the way just as a dark shadowy pool appeared at the spot where he was standing before it spread out and encompassed all eight Oto shinobi.

Before any of Kabuto's men could react black tendrils shot out of the giant pool and wrapped around the shinobi's ankles, wrists, waist, and neck. The shinobi's struggled in vain as the tendrils pulled them down into oblivion. Once the head of the last Oto shinobi sank into the darkness Shadow canceled the jutsu before he looked over his shoulder at Kushina and said "Your path is clear now. GO!"

Tsunade merely nodded her head before she took off towards Naruto's location. Kushina lingered only for a moment, before she took off after Tsunade, but just before she landed on the adjacent rooftop she looked over her shoulder at Shadow and said "Don't you dare die Shadow. We have several thing to discuss once this is over."

It was at this moment that Kabuto threw some kunai at Kushina and Tsunade before he said "I won't let you get away."

Shadow quickly responded by throwing several of his own kunai to intercept Kabuto's. After the kunai collided with each other Shadow looked over at Kabuto and said "I'm your opponent."

Kabuto brought his right hand up so that it was only six inches from the left side of his face and as a blue glow encompassed his hand he said "Well, not for much longer."

Shadow shifted into his fighting stance and hardened his gaze at Kabuto before he said "I don't think so. Orochimaru can't come to your rescue this time."

**(Meanwhile at the Hokage Tower)**

Sarutobi looked off in the direction he felt Kyuubi's chakra and got a solemn look on his face before he thought _'What's happening over there? First there was that huge explosion, now I sense a massive amount of Kyuubi's chakra…just who are you fighting Naruto?'_

The moment Sarutobi finished his line of thought a single ANBU landed behind him. Sarutobi turned to face the ANBU and said "Report."

The ANBU got down on one knee and said "You were right Hokage-sama that boy, Uzumaki Naruto, is indeed in a fierce battle, and it's with a blonde haired man wearing a white cloaked… I would also like to note that Kushina-san and Tsunade-sama have been spotted headed in Uzumaki-san's direction."

As minuet as it was, Sarutobi instantly picked up on the uneasiness in the ANBU's voice about Naruto's fight and asked "What is it? What's bothering you?"

The ANBU lifted his head to look directly at Sarutobi before he said "Well it's just that, the man fighting Uzumaki Naruto reminds me of… Yondaime-sama."

"Yondaime-sama?! It couldn't be…" said Sarutobi as he shifted his gaze back in the direction of the earlier explosion and thought _'unless…, could Orochimaru really have completed THAT kinjutsu?'_

It was at this very moment that Ibiki landed on the rooftop and said "Hokage-sama they've broken through the west and east gates and have entered the village."

Sarutobi fixed his gaze on Ibiki and said "And what of the villagers? Have they been evacuated to the shelters?"

Ibiki nodded his head in an affirmative gesture as he said "Hai, we have successfully evacuated the villagers, but the hospital and the academy are still occupied. I've placed them under heavy guard until everyone can be safely moved to the shelters."

"Good, than I think it's time we launch our counter attack. Ibiki, inform the troops to keep the enemy away from the hospital and the academy as they drive them back into the forces that are helping us outside the gate." ordered Sarutobi before he pointed at the still kneeling ANBU and said "And you, go and gather your squad. Bring them back here so we can go assist Naruto in his fight against the blonde haired man. If it is indeed Yondaime-sama, than we need to stop him before he is forced to destroy the very village he gave his life for almost fifteen years ago."

"Forced?" questioned the ANBU as he got to his feet.

"Yes…" said Sarutobi as he looked over at the ANBU before he added "If I'm right, then right now his soul is being suppressed by the very jutsu that was used to bring him back. Now get going you two! If we delay any longer the village could very well be destroyed!"

Both Ibiki and the ANBU bowed their heads before they took off to complete their assigned tasks. Once those two were out of sight Sarutobi looked off in the direction that Naruto was in before he sighed "Just hang in there Naruto, help will be there soon."

**(Meanwhile on one of the streets in Konoha)**

A Suna Jounin scanned the deserted street and when he didn't see any sigh of life he turned to his two chunin companions and said "What's going on here? After we broke through their outer wall we haven't run into any significant resistance… it's almost like this entire village is deserted."

"That can't be true! This is Konoha after all, it's supposed to be the greatest of the five shinobi nations They wouldn't just abandon this place without a fight, they have to be here somewhere." replied the chunin that was to the jounin's left.

The Suna Jounin turned to face his companion and said "Agreed, they're here somewhere. So stay on your guard, they could attack us from anywhere."

Just then a shuriken embedded itself in the forehead of the chunin that was standing off on the jounin's right side. As the lifeless body fell to the ground the remaining shinobi turned there attention in the direction of the projectile and saw a woman with shaggy wild hair standing next to a black and white husky with an eye patch over it right eye.

Tsume kept her eyes on her opponents as she said "Are you ready Kuromaru?"

"Ready." growled Kuromaru as he bared his teeth and charged in. Before the Suna chunin could even react Kuromaru knocked the chunin over and had his fangs clamped down on the man's jugular.

When the Jounin commander move to strike Tsume appeared in front of him and slashed at him with her razor sharp claws. As her claws ripped into his flesh, Tsume noticed, out of the corner of her eye, that another enemy shinobi had entered the area and went to attack her partner on his blind side.

But before Tsume could even react a kunai suddenly embedded itself into the attacking shinobi's left temple. While the lifeless body fell to the ground Tsume's gaze quickly turned in the direction that the kunai came from and saw Wolf standing on a rooftop off to her left.

Wolf simply looked down at Tsume before she brought her right hand up to her forehead, and did a two finger salute. She then did a back flip off the roof and disappeared behind the building.

Tsume got a curious look on her face as she wondered why the Kumori shinobi would bother to help her, when a sudden gust of wind blew in her direction and she caught a faint scent in the air, Her eyes widened in shock as she stared at the rooftop in disbelief before she muttered "It can't be…"

**(Hokage Monument)**

Hayate and a black haired female ANBU stood atop the Sandaime's head and surveyed the village under siege. Hayate then turned to the ANBU and said "(Cough, cough) Are you sure you want to do this Yuugao-chan? If any of the 'Ne' see through that henge…"

"I can't just sit back while Kushina-sama and the others are fighting. Besides someone's got to watch your back Hayate-kun, wouldn't want a repeat of what happened last time. Would we?" replied Yuugao as she put her right hand on her hip.

Hayate got a faint smile on his face and shook his head slightly before he said "Alright, alright, you made your point (cough, cough). So let's go and rendezvous with Wolf at the main gate. I do need to stick to the plan after all."

"That's fine, I think it's time we showed Orochimaru that we won't let him have his way." said Yuugao before both she and Hayate jumped of the Hokage Monument and headed off towards the main gate.

**(With Naruto)**

Minato stepped out of the way of Naruto's punch before he pushed Naruto's wrist out of the way. He then rotated his body and delivered a spinning heel kick to Naruto's shoulder blades with his right foot.

But as Naruto fell to the ground one of his chakra tails lashed out. Minato managed to get out of the way of the tail when suddenly another tail lashed out at a higher rate of speed. Minato's eyes widened in surprise before he jerked his head back which caused the tail to only graze his cheek.

As the scratch regenerated itself, Minato backpedaled several feet to get some distance before he thought _'That last tail attack was a lot faster that the first one almost as if… Ah I remember now, Kyuubi-sama still has some control over her chakra outside of the seal. So Kyuubi-sama must have helped him launch that last attack.' _

Minato got small smile on his face and said "Not bad Naruto, but if you truly want to protect the little lady over there, you're going to have to do better than that."

"**I-I'm not done yet!" **growled Naruto as his claws dug into the roof tile while he balled his hands into fists before he slowly got to his feet. He then pulled out his kodachi and added "**Because of you, because of YOU so much was taken from me! I won't let you take Haku-chan as well!!"**

"Naruto…" muttered Minato as a look of resignation crossed his face before he looked at Naruto and solemnly said "Very well, if you truly want to protect her than you have only one option."

"**And what's that?**" snarled Naruto as he tightened his grip on his Kodachi and eyed Minato suspiciously.

Minato used his right index finger and tapped his forehead before he said "Embedded in my skull is a seal tag that not only keeps my chakra inside this body but it also forces me to obey Orochimaru's commands. Destroy it and you'll defeat me."

Naruto narrowed his eyes in suspicion and shifted into his fighting stance as he said "**FINE!! Than I'll just have to rip it out of you!**"

"It won't be that easy Naruto, you have yet to lay a hand on me and I'm not able to just stand by while you 'rip it out'. Don't forget no matter how much I hate it, I've still been ordered to take care of you." said Minato as he noticed Naruto's body tense slightly at his last comment.

Naruto tightened up his guard and said "**Bring it.**"

It was at this moment that Kyuubi decided it was time, so she looked down at the image reflected in the water that was in front of her cage and said **"Kit! Listen very carefully, I want you to channel my chakra the way I told you and pour it into 'Kyuubi's Claw'. Then just before you strike manipulate my chakra like we've been practicing."**

'_What?!' _ thought a confused Naruto as he kept his gaze on Minato.

"**DON'T QUESTION ME JUST DO IT!!" **shouted Kyuubi as she slammed her right hand up against the cage.

Minato got a curious look on his face when he saw a sudden pulse of Kyuubi's charkra completely engulf Naruto's kodachi, then after the pulse faded Naruto charged Minato. When Minato saw this he got a disappointed look on his face and as he throw several of his tri pronged kunai he sighed "I thought I told you that a direct attack won't work on me."

Naruto didn't answer he just kept heading straight for Minato, but when the kunai made contact with Naruto's flesh he suddenly went up in a puff of smoke and when the smoke cleared it revealed that a large log had taken Naruto's place.

Minato quickly turned around and saw that Naruto had jumped into the air and was making a downward strike with his kodachi. His eyes widened in surprise when he saw Kyuubi's chakra completely engulf the kodachi and appear to extend the blade to about six feet in length.

'_What?! No way!'_ thought Minato before he got a serious look on his face when he saw Kyuubi's chakra start to swirl, like a raging storm, within the confines it had created and as Naruto's strike drew closer he mentally added _'Oh… THAT can't be good.'_

Minato quickly jumped out of the way of the attack, and when the tip of Naruto's blade made contact with the roof tile the pent up chakra exploded in a massive fire storm that was hot enough to bend and warp metal. It completely encompassed anything within a five foot radius of the point of impact.

As the fire started to melt the roof tile Minato got a concerned look on his face and shouted "NARUTO!" _'Damn it! Why the hell did he use such a suicidal technique?'_

When the silhouetted form of Naruto slowly stood up in the middle of the fire storm Minato got a look of shock and relief before he slapped his forehead and thought _'Of course! How could I be so stupid? Kyuubi-sama's chakra must be protecting him from the fire.'_

The silhouetted form of Naruto lifted his kodachi up and slashed at the fire, thus canceling the jutsu. When the fire subsided Minato got a good look at the Kyuubified kodachi and noticed that even though you could still see the original kodachi Kyuubi's chakra had extended out past the blade to make its length a good six feet. Also the chakra had extended down in front of the hilt to form some kind of protective guard. Then when Minato's eyes settled on the hilt of the kodachi he noticed that a chakra tail had form at the very end and was flinging about wildly.

After Minato examined the blade his eyes widened in surprise as he thought _'So the legends ARE true. That metal really does exist! But where the hell did Naruto find enough of it to make a kodachi?'_

Naruto looked down at the kodachi and got a fox-like smile on his face as he thought _'SWEET! Oh… Baa-chan, you're definitely going to have to explain this one later.'_

Behind her cell bars Kyuubi got a smug look on her face and said **"I'm glad you like it Kit. That technique you just used is a specialty of mine, it's called ****Kitsunebi no jutsu****, **(Foxfire technique)** and I'll tell you about my chakra's effects on 'Kyuubi's Claw' later."**

However Naruto didn't hear a word as he glared at Minato and said "**But first…**"

Minato got a smile on his face and with a hint of pride in his voice said "You keep surprising me Naruto. To think that not only did you find that material but you've already figured out how to use it… impressive. If you keep this up you may force me to take more… drastic action."

"**I don't care what you use! I'll protect Haku-chan with my life!**" snarled Naruto as he shifted into his fighting stance.

Minato shook his head as he sighed "Naruto, you seem to have forgotten…"

Then in a blink of an eye Minato threw a tri-pronged kunai that whizzed past Naruto's right ear, then there was a sudden flash of yellow and he appeared behind Naruto with that same tri-pronged kunai pressed up against Naruto's throat. Minato then got a serious tone in his voice and said "… You're my target."

Naruto's eyes widened in fear but when he felt the kunai start to shake, a fierce determination appeared in his eyes and he quickly knocked the kunai away from his throat. He then rotated on the ball of his foot and slashed at Minato.

Minato stepped back so the Kyuubified kodachi harmlessly passed by his face, but the kodachi did manage to slice the tip off the tri-pronged kunai that Minato had in his left hand. As the metal tip hit the ground Minato looked at the handle and noticed the melted edges before he felt an uncontrollable impulse. He then got a sad look on his face and said "I'm sorry Naruto, but it seems I can't let you use Kyuubi-sama's chakra anymore. So I'm going to have to force it back into the seal."

"**HEH! We'll see about that.**" growled Naruto as he did an upward diagonal slash with his blade.

Minato twisted his body so that the blade passed harmlessly to his side before he disappeared in a yellow flash. The next thing Naruto knew Minato was off to his right with a piece of paper in his hand. Before Naruto could even react Minato place the sealing tag on his forehead.

As Kyuubi's chakra was forcibly returned to the seal Naruto collapsed to his knees while his kodachi returned to its normal state, and when all of Kyuubi's chakra was within the seal Naruto got a tired look on his face before he collapsed to the ground.

Minato looked at the face down Naruto and in a sad tone of voice said "It's over."

But just as he was about to move closer to Naruto his eyes widened in shock when he heard "N-Not yet…"

"Impossible." muttered Minato while he stared at Naruto, who slowly got to his feet, before he thought _'His body should be completely exhausted after using so much of Kyuubi-sama's chakra. So how the hell does he have the energy to stand?'_

"I-I'm… I'm not done yet." huffed Naruto as he stumbled backward a couple of steps before he regained his balance.

Naruto then straightened his back so that he stood up straight and took a deep breath before he looked Minato straight in the eyes and said "It'll take more than sealing Baa-chan's chakra to take me down!"

"That's good to hear Nartuo-kun." said Kushina as she suddenly appeared directly behind Minato.

Minato's eyes widened in shock as he heard a voice he never thought he'd hear again, and then before he could recover from his shock Kushina delivered a powerful roundhouse kick that sent him skidding along the rooftop. Minato quickly rolled his body and then used chakra in his hands and feet to stop his momentum, but the moment he came to a halt he looked up and saw Tsunade coming in for an attack. He quickly rolled out of the way just as Tsunade's heel made contact with the roof tile, which completely destroyed that section of the roof and left a giant hole in its place.

As Minato came out of his roll he looked at the red-haired beauty that was already by Naruto's side and muttered "Kushina-chan?! You're alive!!"

Kushina moved in front of Naruto, while Tsunade took the seal tag off his forehead and then proceeded to check Naruto for any serious injuries. Kushina got a sad look on her face and said "Minato-kun…I never thought I'd see you again."

Minato stood up and shifted his gaze from Kushina to Tsunade and then back to Kushina before he got a confused look on his face and said "What's going on? Naruto said Tsunade-sama was his kaa-san, so I assumed something had happened to you, but here you are. So why does Naruto call Tsunade-sama kaa-san and not you?"

"After what he did… he doesn't deserve that answer!" shouted Naruto as Tsunade put her hands on his shoulders to restrain him.

Kushina looked over her shoulder at Naruto and with a confused look on her face said "What… he did?"

Naruto lowered his head so some of his hair came down in front of his eyes as he said "That bastard knew… HE KNEW!!"

When Tsuande saw the hurt and pained look in Naruto's eyes she got a concerned look on her face and asked "Knew? Knew what?"

Naruto lifted his head and glared at Minato as he shouted "He knew what would happen after he sealed Baa-chan, and he did nothing to prevent it!!! At least Kushina-chan was lied to and believed I was dead, but that BASTARD condemned me! Because of him my childhood was a living HELL, filled with nothing but loneliness and hate!"

Tsunade tightened her grip on Naruto's shoulder as she narrowed her eyes at Minato and said "Is that true? Did you really leave Naru-chan to rot in the village with no family or friends?"

"Minato-kun?" questioned Kushina as she turned around just in time to see Minato visibly flinch at Tsunade's words and as a look of deep sadness and regret crossed his face she thought _'So it is true… you really did know and did nothing to stop it. Why? Why would you do such a thing? …What a minute he's showing… emotion? What's going on? I thought Orochimaru's jutsu suppressed the soul and made them complete killing machines? That look just now, it's almost as if he were actually… alive.'_

When Tsunade saw Minato's reaction her right eyebrow twitched in anger and as she stomped over toward Minato she shouted "What kind of father were you?!! Do you realize what they did to him! If it hadn't been for myself and Kyuubi he would have died a long time ago!!!"

Kushina put her hand out in front of Tsunade to stop her advance before she leveled her gaze at Minato and said "What's the deal Minato-kun? Why aren't you a killing machine just following orders? If I didn't know any better I'd swear you were actually alive."

"I wish I knew Kushina-chan. All I can say is that if must be my link with the Shinagami that gives me the strength to resist Orochimaru's control." said Minato who was more than happy to get off the subject of his failings.

Kushina got a curious look on her face as she said "Your link with the Shinagami?"

Minato nodded his head as he tried to explain; "That's the only way I can describe it. Even now I can feel his presence… I guess he didn't want to let me go with out a leash."

"And yet you still attacked Naru-chan…" snapped Tsunade as she clenched her fists in anger.

"Yes, I can fight Orochimaru's orders but they're like a constant voice in the back of my head continually telling me to kill." said Minato before he shifted into his fighting stance and added "I've also been ordered to keep others from interfering even if it means their lives. Forgive me…"

Kushina got into her own fighting stance and with a serious look on her face she said "Naruto-kun, I want you to take Haku-san and get out of here, while we hold off Minato-kun."

"No! He hurt Haku-chan and I'm not going to let him get away with that!" shouted Naruto as he picked up his kodachi.

Kushina kept her gaze fixed on Minato and with a harsh tone in her voice said "Don't be a fool! Even with Kyuubi-sama's chakra Minato-kun was still faster than you! If you fought him now he'd surely finish you off."

Naruto gritted his teeth and tightened his grip on his kodachi before he said "Damn it!! Why do I have to be so useless when it really matters?"

Suddenly Naruto felt a reassuring hand on his shoulder and looked to his left to see Tsunade's gental smile before she said "You're not useless Naru-chan. Just let us handle this ok. Besides you've got more important things to do right now remember?"

"More important things?" questioned Naruto as he got a confused look on his face.

Tsunade let her smile get a little bigger as she said "Yeah didn't you say you wanted to save Gaara from his fate?"

"Yeah but…" said Naruto as he sheathed his kodachi and looked over at Haku, who had started to stir.

Tsunade got a firm tone in her voice and said "No buts, we don't have time to argue. Just go and complete your mission and leave the rest to us. Now go!"

When Naruto saw the look in Tsunade's eyes he let out a sigh and said "Alright Kaa-san, I'll go take care of Gaara. Just… be careful ok."

"Hey! You're talking to one of the legendary Sannin here, so I'll be just fine." said Tsunade before she turned and started to walk towards Kushina.

As Naruto made his way towards the stirring Haku, Tsunade walked up so that she stood beside Kushina and once she was by her side Tsunade got a firm tone in her voice before she said "Kushina when this is over, WE need to talk."

"Tsunade-sama?" asked Kushina as she quickly glanced at her with a questioning look in her eyes before she returned her gaze to Minato, who remained motionless while he kept his attention fixed on the group.

Meanwhile Naruto had just reached Haku and as he started to pick her up, her eyes fluttered open and in a dazed tone of voice she said "N-Naruto-kun…"

Naruto got a gentle smile on his face and as he put her arm around his neck he gently said "Don't worry Haku-chan, now that Kaa-san and Kushina are here everything is going to be just fine."

Haku slowly turned her head in the direction of Tsunade and Kushina, and the moment her eyes fell upon the face of the man they were facing down her head cleared a little before she thought _'That face… where have I seen that face before?'_

Her eyes slowly moved from the man's face to the Hokage Monument that was off to their right and when her eyes settled on the last face on the monument a shocked look appeared on her face as the fog that clouded her mind completely cleared and she said "Naruto-kun is that…"

Naruto lowered his head, so that his eyes were shrouded in shadow, and with a little venom in his voice he said "Yeah… that MAN is the Yondaime Hokage… my father."

"How?" asked Haku as a million question suddenly popped in her head but they disappeared just as quickly when she saw the pained look on Naruto's face. She then got a concerned look on her face and whispered "Naruto-kun…"

Before either of them could say anything else Kushina said "I hate to interrupt you two but we don't have time for this. You need to get going now before Minato-kun decides to attack."

Naruto nodded his head as he looked at Tsunade and not Kushina, before he shifted his gaze to Haku and said "Are you able to move under your own power Haku-chan?"

"Yeah my head's clear now and aside from a slight headache I feel fine." said Haku as Naruto released his grip on her arm

As the two of them turned to leave Naruto turned back and looked at Tsunade before he said "Kaa-san, I don't know if he was telling the truth or not, but he said that the only way to defeat him was to remove the seal tag that is embedded in his skull."

Tsunade let her smile return before she nodded his head in appreciation and said "Thanks Naru-chan that should come in handy later."

Naruto let his gaze linger on Tsunade and Kushina for a moment before he turned to leave, and that's when Minato suddenly moved toward him and as he closed in he pulled out a kunai before he said "I'm sorry Naruto, but I can't let you leave."

But when Minato was only a few feet from Naruto his eyes widened in surprise as Kushina appeared in front of Naruto and blocked the strike. As the two kunai continued to press against each other Kushina looked over her shoulder so that Naruto was in her field of view before she shouted "Go!!"

Naruto merely nodded his head before both he and Haku jumped off the roof and headed off into the village. Once Naruto was safely out of sight Kushina got a series look on her face and said "Know this Minato-kun… It doesn't matter who it is. I won't let anyone take my son away from me again!"

This comment cause Minato to hesitate for only a moment but that was all Tsunade needed. She appeared beside Minato in an instant and delivered a right cross with all of her strength, but Minato was able to pull his head back at the last moment so that the punch only grazed his cheek.

That grazing however had enough force behind it to send Minato flying completely through the building, that was on the opposite side of the street before he crashed into the ground below. When Minato got to his feet, he looked up at Kushina and Tsunade through the hole in the building, before he got a sad look on his face and whispered "Forgive me…"

Minato then used his great speed to cover the distance between them in an instant before he delivered a massive uppercut to Kushina's gut. He then twisted his body and landed a spinning heel-kick to the side of Tsunade's head, which knocked her to the ground, before he turned back to Kushina and went for a spinning back-fist to her temple.

But just before the hit made contact Kushina vanished. She then reappeared directly behind Minato and said "I'm not as slow as I use to be Minato-kun."

Kushina then slashed with her kunai, however Minato was able to duck at the last moment so that the kunai only cut the tips of his spiky blonde hair. The moment Minato finished his downward momentum his eyes widened in surprise as he saw Tsunade's foot come into his field of view. He immediately jerked his head back and channeled chakra into his feet, so that Tsuande's foot missed his face as he pushed himself off the ground. He then went into a back-flip over Kushina and landed about five feet behind her.

Minato shifted into his fighting stance and got a smile on his face before he said "That's good to hear Kushina-chan. That means Naruto stands a chance."

**(With Naruto)**

As Naruto and Haku raced along the rooftops of Konoha, Haku looked over at Naruto and saw that he had a far off look on his face. While Haku wondered what was going on her thoughts were interrupted when Naruto muttered "That bastard… why did I have to find out about this now."

When Haku heard this it concerned her a great deal so she said "Naruto-kun is everything ok? What did you find out that's troubling you so much?"

Naruto blinked a couple of times before he looked over at Haku and with a reassuring smile on his face he said "Huh? Oh it's nothing Haku-chan don't worry about it. Besides we have more important things to do than worry about the past."

"The past?" asked Haku but before Naruto had a chance to answer several kunai shot out from the street below.

As they dodged the kunai Naruto managed to get a look at the street and saw a large group of Suna shinobi. He got an annoyed look on his face and thought _'Damn it! This looks like some kind of staging area! I must really be out of it not to notice it before now.'_

When Naruto and Haku landed safely on one of the rooftops they found themselves surrounded by no less than three squads of Suna jounin. As Naruto and Haku went back to back, Naruto looked from left to right and then scanned the street below before he thought _'Shit this doesn't look good. We're seriously outnumbered here and it looks like most of the shinobi are jounin in rank. With Haku still a little woozy from that blow to her head and my chakra reserves low I don't think we can take all of them. Damn it! How are we going to get out of this one?'_

Just as Naruto finished that thought one of the Suna shinobi charged forward, but before he could even react a blur appeared out of nowhere and sliced right through the attacking shinobi. As the shinobi's lifeless body fell to the ground the one responsible for his death kept his back to Naruto and said "Stand down Uzumaki-san. I'll handle this."

Naruto's eyes widened in shock as he recognized that voice immediately. He then pointed a finger at the man before he said "It's you! You're that guy from the Namikaze vault!"

"Call me Kugutsu…" said Kugutsu as he pulled out another kunai so that he was holding one in each hand. He then flipped the kunai so the blade end was facing the ground before he added "… Now stay where you are while this rabble is cleared out."

When the Suna shinobi heard this one of them said "That guys crazy, he's just one man. What can he possibly do all by himself?"

Kugutsu got a small smirk on his face before he said "Whoever said I was alone?"

Just then the Suna shinobi surrounding Naruto and the others felt the ground rumble before they heard the shouts of their comrades on the street below. When some of the men turned to look they saw that their comrade had been trapped in a prison made out of wood, and that's when one of them said "What the hell?! Where did that come from?"

It was at this moment that Kugutsu sprang into action and before any of the shinobi could react he had already slit the throats of two of them. Naruto watched on in amazement as Kugutsu cut through the rest of the Suna shinobi like they were mere genin. As the last of the Suna shinobi, that had surrounded them, fell to the ground an ANBU landed on the rooftop and said "Kugutsu-sempai, all remaining targets have been neutralized."

"Good work Yamato. Now that this area is clear we can move on to the next." said Kugutsu before he turned to face Naruto and Haku. Once both were in his line of sight he got a commanding tone in his voice and said "Listen you two, we can't have foreign shinobi getting involved in a Konoha matter. So I want you two to head towards the Hokage Tower. Our defenses are strong there so you should be safe until this is all over."

"If you think I'm just going to run and hide you're gravely mistake! …Look, whether you like it or not WE are involved. I have a mission to complete and I intend to complete it!" said Naruto as looked Kugutsu right in the eyes.

Kugutsu got a curious look on his face and said "Mission? If you're planning anything against…"

"Please! If I was going to do anything against this village I would have done it by now." interrupted Naruto as he got a fierce determination in his eyes before he added "I'm going after Gaara, and if my hunch is right I'm the only one who can stop him."

Kugutsu crossed his arms over his chest as he got a confused look on his face as he said "Gaara? Isn't that one of the Suna genin taking the chunin exam? What makes you think that only you can deal with him?"

Naruto locked eyes with Kugutsu as he said "Because HE'S… like me, and if he releases it…"

"I see…" said Kugutsu as he brought his right hand up to his chin and thought about it for a moment and when he saw the look in Naruto's eyes he came to a decision. He got a small smile on his face before he said "Those eyes… they remind me of someone I knew in my youth, and god help anyone who got in his way. So… I'll leave Gaara to you, while we handle the more important matters of the invasion."

Naruto shook his head in annoyance before he said "Whatever, let's go Haku-chan.."

As Naruto and Haku headed off into the village Yamato came up beside Kugutsu and said "Are you sure it's such a good idea to send them off like that on their own?"

Kugutsu kept his gaze focused in the direction that Naruto went as he said "That boy… he reminds me of Yondaime-sama. Anyway even if this Gaara really is like him, he's just a genin, so I'm sure they'll be just fine. Now let's get going we still have our own job to do."

Yamato nodded his head in agreement before both men headed out.

Meanwhile not to far off Naruto and Haku finally reached their destination. When they landed on a nearby rooftop, with a little shack on top and a railing that went around the edge of the building, Haku looked down on to the street below and was shocked to see a giant ball of sand. She looked over at Naruto and asked "What is that?"

Naruto got a serious look on his face before he said "It's Gaara."

"About time you got here. I was starting to think you wouldn't show." said a voice from behind the pair.

Both Naruto and Haku immediately turned around only to see Yugito with her back pressed up against a wall and a big smile on her face. Yugito then did a slight wave with her right hand as she said "Yo!"

Before Naruto could say anything Yugito pushed herself off the wall and as she walked over to them she said "While I was waiting on you two I did a little recon."

Yugito then pointed to the lone figure standing by the sand ball before she said "That girl with the blonde hair is the only guard. I guess they don't have enough manpower to allocate the proper number of guards."

"I don't know about that. It could be that she was the only one brave enough to be there when he finishes doing whatever it is he doing." interrupted Naruto as he leaned on the railing and continued to stare at the ball of sand.

Yugito shrugged her shoulders before she said "It doesn't really matter anyway. With the three of us here we can easily overpower her and then destroy that ball before he finishes."

"Yugito I have a favor to ask…" said Naruto as he pushed off the railing and while he kept his back to her he added "…Not far from here you'll find Kushina and my Kaa-san fighting against the Yondaime Hokage. I'd like you to go and help them out anyway you can. Surely with your Bijuu you'll be able to help."

Yugito got a curious look on her face and asked "What do you mean 'with your bijuu'? Surely you can't be thinking…"

Naruto turned around to face her before he said "Your bijuu is Nibi the two tailed cat demon right? I've heard of legends that say the two tailed cat can manipulate the dead and since HE'S already dead I just thought…"

"Those are just myths! I'll admit that I don't know the full extent of her powers but I can tell you that for as long as she's be within me she's never used such a power. Nor has she even mentioned it. Besides your talking about the Yon-freaking-daime Hokage here, I doubt my power would be of any use against him!." interrupted Yugito as she pointed a finger at Naruto to emphasize her point.

Naruto got a dejected look on his face and said "I guess you're right, I had just hoped that it would give Kaa-san and Kushina an advantage in their fight. Without it…"

When Yugito saw the look on his face she rubbed the back of her head and let out a sigh before she said "Look I'll go and see what I can do alright? But I make no promises if it looks too dangerous I out of there got it?"

A small smile appeared on his face as he bowed his head in a respectful manner before he said "Thank's Yugito I owe you one."

"Damn straight you do! I don't go risking my neck for just anyone you know. So I plan to collect on that debt later." said Yugito as she got a smile on her face before she jumped off the roof and headed off in the direction Naruto and Haku came from.

Once Yugito left Naruto turned to Haku and said "Well Haku-chan shall we begin?"

**(Down on the Street Below)**

Temari crossed her arms over her chest and tapped her foot in aggravation as she thought _'Where are you Kankuro? Those shinobi up on the roof won't wait forever and Gaara still hasn't finished his transformation yet. So if you don't get here soon I could be in serious trouble.'_

She then looked over her shoulder at the giant ball of sand before a shiver ran down her spine and she thought _'But once Gaara releases it, there'll be nothing that can stop him.'_

The moment Temari finished those thoughts, Naruto and Haku landed on the dusty street right in front of her. Temari shifted into a defensive position and brought her right hand up the her battle fan as she said "I won't allow you to go any further!"

"Do you really think you can take both of us?" asked Naruto as he tilted his head slightly to the right and got a curious look on his face.

Temari focused her gaze on Naruto and eyed him suspiciously as she said "Confident aren't we. Is that why you didn't launch a sneak attack?"

"Not really, I don't have any desire to fight you. I only came here so I could save Gaara before he was too far gone, but if you get in my way..." said Naruto as he got into his fighting stance and placed his right hand on the hilt of his kodachi.

Temari's guard dropped slightly as she got a confused look on her face and said "Save Gaara? What are you…"

Her words were interrupted however when everyone felt the ground shake. Everyone turned their attention to the giant ball of sand as cracks started to appear along the surface.

Naruto narrowed his eyes as he saw the cracks on the ball before he thought _'That can't be good… does this mean we arrived too late? Has Gaara already finished whatever it is he was planning to do?'_

Meanwhile Temari got a look of terror on her face and stoke several steps backwards as she thought _'I-It's finally happened… the perfect possession.'_

Just then the sand ball exploded and a giant column of sand shot straight up into the air. The sand then grew ever bigger as two arms shot out of the column quickly followed by a single tail out the back. Then the column widened and started to take on the shape of a body and once the body was finished a head shaped like that of a raccoon emerged from the shoulders.

The giant creature then tilted his head back and laughed "**WHA-HAHA-HAHA-HAA!! I'm finally free baby!!"**

The creature then did a quick scan of his surroundings before he said "**YEA-AH!! Oh, straight out of the gate, and I already see an entire village I wanna slaughter!!**"

When Naruto heard this he got a concerned look on his face before he looked up at the towering creature and thought _'Oh Shit!'_

Next Chapter: Shukaku unleashed: Naruto vs. Gaara!

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Author notes2: Well I hope you liked this latest installment and I hope to see you all for the next update. Until then later.


	30. Shukaku Unleashed: Naruto vs Gaara!

-1"Speech"

'_Thoughts'_

**Demon/Summon/inner Sakura speech**

_**Demon/Summon thoughts**_

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or any of the characters created by Kishimoto, but all OC's are my own creation.

Shaithan: Don't worry Naruto won't always succeed in his endeavors and one of his failed endeavors will effect the group in a big way. And as for Gaara I do have plans for him and all the other Jinchuriki much later in the story.

Author's notes: Ok I learned my lesson and I don't plan on having this many overlapping fights again. It's been really hard trying to keep each fight distinct and interesting. I even had to cut out a couple of other fight scenes in order to keep it flowing smoothly.

Now on with the story

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Chapter 30: Shukaku Unleashed: Naruto vs. Gaara!

Danzo put his hand behind his back as he stared out of his window at Shukaku before he thought _'Interesting, Suna really does have a Jinchuriki after all. So Orochimaru, your plan is to use this Jinchuriki as a weapon to throw the villagers into a panic, while your forces sweep through the village… very impressive. It looks like now's as good a time as any to complete my part of the deal.'_

He then turns around to face a 'Ne' officer, who was down on one knee, and said "It's time, signal the…"

Just then a large commotion could be heard from outside but before Danzo could react a 'Ne' ANBU crashed through the wooden door and skidded to a halt at Danzo's feet. Not even a second later Itachi walked through the hole in the door before he looked down at the 'Ne' corpse, and with no emotion in his voice said "Kisame, your methods attract far too much attention."

"Geez, give me a break Itachi. With all the commotion going on outside it's not like anyone will notice anyway." said Kisame as he came through the broken door.

When Itachi turned to face Kisame the 'Ne' officer drew his sword and rushed forward. But when he got within striking distance, Itachi merely shifted his body weight a little before he grabbed the 'Ne' officer's wrist thus stopping his attack. Itachi immediately twisted the man's arm behind his back. He then brought his other hand up the man's chin and as he snapped the officer's neck he said "Foolish."

Once the lifeless body fell to the ground Itachi turned to Kisame and said "More will be here soon. Take care of them while I finish what we came here to do."

Kisame got a grin so big that you could clearly see his razor sharp teeth, and as he grabbed the hilt of his sword he said "With pleasure. We've been sneaking around for so long it will be great to finally cut loose."

After Kisame exited through the broken door, Danzo got defiant look on his face and said "What's the meaning of this Itachi?! I thought we had an agreement!"

Itachi turned his attention to Danzo, and as he approached him he said "You've been holding out on us Danzo."

"Holding out? What you're talking about? I've always been straight forward when dealing with you." said Danzo before his eyes widened in fear as he saw Itachi activate his Sharingan.

Danzo took a couple of steps back and in a trembling voice said "Y-You wouldn't…"

As Danzo felt a genjutsu take over his being, the commas in Itachi's eyes started to spin wildly as he said "Now… you're going to tell me everything I want to know."

**(Just Outside Danzo's Office)**

Kisame sliced through another 'Ne' shinobi before he rested his blade on his right shoulder and got a smile on his face as he said "Ah… there's just something about the smell of fresh blood that really gets me pumped."

Just then another squad of 'Ne' shinobi appeared and charged Kisame. Kisame's smile got even bigger and as he took his sword off his shoulder he said "Goody more fish to play with."

Kisame quickly sidestepped a downward slash delivered by the first shinobi that reached him. Once the attack was dodged Kisame did an upward slash with his own sword and effortlessly sliced the shinobi's head from his body. As the lifeless body fell to the ground Kisame moved at great speed and appeared in front of one of the remaining members of the squad. He then used his left hand and grabbed the shinobi by the throat and then he crushed the man's windpipe.

Once this shinobi was released the two remaining members charged Kisame at the same time in an attempt to catch him off guard. But before the two could even attack Kisame impaled one of them on his sword, he then let go of his sword and did a leg sweep that knocked the remaining shinobi to the ground. Kisame then pulled his sword out of the man he impaled earlier before he walked over to the last remaining shinobi and slammed his sword into the shinobi's chest.

"Are you quite done Kisame?" asked Itachi as he walked out of the broken wooden door that lead to Danzo's office.

Kisame pulled his sword out of the shinobi's chest and placed it on his back before he said "You're such a kill joy, you know that Itachi. And I didn't even use any ninjutsu either."

"Good. There are only a couple of people in this village that can do Suiton jutsu's and their whereabouts would be quickly established. Now let's get moving before we attract any more unwanted attention." said Itachi as he started down the dimly light hallway that had a window at the far end.

As Kisame passed by the broken door that lead to Danzo's office he took a peek inside and saw a limp Danzo seated in his chair with his head back and his mouth open. Kisame then turned and looked at Itachi before he said "Are you sure it was such a good idea to kill him? Remember what leader-sama told us."

"He isn't dead…" said Itachi as he looked over his shoulder to reveal that he had his sharingan active before he added "I simple showed him what would happen if he withheld anything from us again. In a couple of hours he'll awaken with a new respect for our organization."

Kisame shook his head at this and chuckled "Heh, heh, heh, heh. And they call me the cruel one. So what did you make him experience? Being boiled alive, eaten to death by a swam of hunger piranhas, or your personal favorite being stabbed to death by an army of your clones?"

By the time Kisame finished talking they had reached the window on the far side of the hallway, and as Itachi put his right foot on the window ledge he said "You're wasting time. We need to inform leader-sama of what I've learned without engaging in any meaningless battles."

After Itachi jumped out of the window Kisame walked up to the window and as he jumped out into the village he said "Geez, it's always down to business with you isn't it Itachi? We need to get you to lighten up."

Itachi remained silent to Kisame's comment and continued to jump along the rooftops.

**(With Naruto)**

Naruto, after he got over his initial shock, looked up at the towering one-tailed raccoon, Shukaku for a few moments before his right eyebrow twitched ever so slightly, and in an annoyed tone of voice said "Oh come ON!! Does EVERY Jinchuriki know how to turn into their bijuu form but me!"

Once Naruto finished speaking Haku put her hand on his shoulder and in a comforting tone of voice said "Don't be so hard on yourself Naruto-kun. I'm sure this has to do with the fact the they only have one or two tails."

Naruto got a doubtful expression on his face as he glanced over at Haku and said "That isn't very reassuring Haku-chan."

When Temari heard all of this a look of shock crossed her face as she thought _'He's a Jinchuriki as well?! But he seems so… normal compared to Gaara.'_

It was at this moment that Shukaku took a large breath and said "**All right let's DOOO this! ****Fuuton****…**"(Wind Style…)

Naruto's eyes widen in shock before he quickly turned to Haku and shouted "TAKE COVER!!"

"…**Renkuudan****!**" (Drilling Air Projectile) shouted Shukaku as he slammed his right fist into his stomach, which caused him to exhaled a powerful burst of air that completely destroyed and decimated all of the wooden structures in front of him.

**(Konoha Academy)**

Konohamaru had just exited the three story tall building, made out of wood and plaster, when he suddenly heard a loud commotion coming from the western side of the village. But when he turned to look in that direction his eyes widened in shock as he saw Shukaku looming over the horizon. As he took a couple of steps back he bumped into a nine year old girl with straight long black hair and white eyes. After the girl staggered back she rubbed her shoulder and said "Watch where your going you nitwit."

But when Konohamaru didn't respond she looked over at him and saw that his gaze was fixed on something in the village. When she shifted her gaze in the direction Konohamaru was looking she got a scared look on her face and said "What is that thing?!"

Just then Crow landed beside the two kids and put his hand on each of their shoulders before he said "It's one of the legendary Bijuu. That one happens to be the one-tailed raccoon Shukaku. So come on, we need to get out of here before it sees us."

The moment Crow finished everyone saw the Shukau's head tilt back before he laughed "**WHA-HAHA-HAHA-HA!! I did it!! That was great! Now who's gonna get killed next?"**

Konohamaru's eye widen in terror as he saw Shukaku turn in their direction before he said "I-It's turning this way!!"

**(With Naruto)**

Naruto shoved a huge piece of debris off his body and scanned the area as he shouted "Haku-chan! Are you alright?!"

Some smaller pieces of wood and plaster crumbled as Haku pulled herself out of the pile and said "Yeah, I'm alright."

Naruto let out a sigh of relief before he looked around at all the devastation. He shook his head in disbelief as he saw just a couple columns of a broken two by fours that were surrounded by fragments of wood and plaster where an entire building had stood just a few moments before. Naruto then shifted his gaze and noticed that Shukaku had turned to face another direction. His eyes widened in shock as he recognized the direction Shukaku was facing and thought _'Isn't that the direction of the Academy? But that's where… Konohamaru…'_

Then without even a second thought Naruto sprinted toward Shukaku as fast as his legs would carry him. However just at that moment Temari finally managed to dig herself out of the debris and happened to see Naruto running towards the transformed Gaara. She acted instinctively and moved to intercept, but Haku appeared in front of Temari to block her path.

Temari brought her right hand up to her battle fan before she said "Out of my way little girl."

Haku pulled a couple of senbon out and got into a defensive stance before she said "I won't let you stop Naruto-kun, and if you try to get past me you'll find out just how '_little_' this girl really is."

By this time Naruto had gotten within a few feet of Shukaku, and was frantically searching the area to find anything big enough to use to stop him and that's when his eyes came upon a large chunk of debris that was at least two to three times bigger than he was. The moment Naruto made it over to the large piece of debris Shukaku took a deep breath and said "**AALLLRIGHT!! Let's do it ONE MORE TIME!!! ****Fuuton: Renkuudan****!**"

"Oh no you… DON'T!!" shouted Naruto as he used all the strength he had to lift up the large chunk of debris and hurl it towards Shukaku. The impact of the debris was so strong that it knocked Shukaku's head back far enough to send the powerful chakra filled air attack safely over the village.

**(Konoha Academy)**

As the air projectile passed over head the girl with the long black hair turned to face Konohamaru and said "That thing just got hit in the face with a piece of a building!!"

Konohamaru got a relieved look on his face and said "Yeah I saw it Hanabi, was that a lucky break or what?."

Just then Crow turned back and looked at Shukaku before he said "No it wasn't luck. Someone threw that debris to alter the path of the jutsu."

"But that's not possible! No one has the strength to pull that off." said Hanabi as she turned to face Crow.

Crow brought his hand up to his chin and thought about it for a moment before he said "I can think of only two people that have that kind of strength. One is the Legendary Slug Sannin, Tsunade-sama, and the other is her adopted son…"

"AH! It's the BOSS!!" shouted a happy Konohamaru as he pointed to a small figure wearing a long tan trench coat with yellow hair, who had just landed on a rooftop that was right in front of Shukaku.

**(With Naruto)**

As Naruto stood up straight he looked up at Shukaku and with a fierce look in his eyes he shouted "That's enough Gaara!! I won't let you kill anyone else!"

"**Kit, in case you didn't notice that's not Gaara anymore. Shukaku has been awakened and will continue to be in control until his host wakes up."** stated Kyuubi as she gazed down into the reflective water in front of her cage.

Naruto narrowed his eyes and shifted into his fighting stance before he said "Well then, I guess I'll just have to wake him up."

Shukaku quickly scanned the area to find the one responsible for that piece of debris earlier and when he saw Naruto in front of him he got a crazed look in his eyes before he said "**That's it! I'm gonna kill ya for what ya did!!"**

"Give it your best shot! Many have tried, yet none have succeeded." said Naruto before his eyes widened slightly when he saw Shukaku's hand come crashing down towards him.

Naruto managed to leap out of the way just as Shukaku's hand completely demolished the rooftop that he was on just mere moments before. The instant Naruto landed on the adjacent rooftop he went into a roll to soften the blow. When he came out of the roll he turned around to face Shukaku and with a faint smile on his face he said "Is that the best you've got?!"

"**Hardly ya little shit! ****Suna Shuriken****!**" (Sand Shuriken) said Shukaku as several globs of sand shot out of his right hand, that was pointed right at Naruto.

When the globs of sand got closer they hardened and took on the shape of actual shuriken. Naruto's eyes widened in surprise as he said "Uh-oh."

Meanwhile Temari looked up as Naruto managed to dodged the sand shuriken, and with a look of shock and disbelief written all over her face she said "You've… got to be kidding me?! He's actually fighting Shukaku head on? That's insane! Just who the hell is this kid anyway?"

When Haku heard this she got a serious look on her face before she said "He's the one, who was left for dead by his village a long time ago. The very village he is now trying to save."

Temari got a shocked and confused look on her face as she shifted her gaze to Haku and said "What?"

"Never mind, what's important is that Naruto-kun will show Gaara that there's another path he can follow. Now…" said Haku as she locked eyes with Temari, and then in a cold tone of voice added "…if you still plan to stop Naruto-kun, I won't hold back."

A chill ran down Temari's spine as she felt the temperature around her drop. This caused her to tighten her grip on her battle fan and as she stared down Haku she thought _'This isn't good. I can tell that she's no pushover, and I can't afford to waist chakra needlessly. So I'll just have to wait until Kankuro arrives.'_

Haku narrowed her eyes when she saw that Temari didn't make any kind of aggressive move and as she tightened up her guard she said "So it's a standoff then."

**(With Kushina and Tsunade)**

Normal and tri-pronged kunai collided in midair as Kushina and Minato jumped away from each other. The moment Minato landed on the rooftop he got a solemn look on his face as he looked at both Kushina and Tsunade and said "You both put up a good fight, but I'm afraid that this is as far as it will go."

Before Kushina or Tsunade could react to his statement Minato disappeared in a yellow flash and reappeared behind the pair before he landed a side-kick with his left leg to Kushina's shoulder blades, which sent her to the ground. When his left foot hit the ground he shifted his weight to deliver a spinning heel-kick with his right leg to Tsunade's chest, and sent her crashing to the ground as well.

"As you can see, my specially marked kunai are spread through out the area. So there's no way you can keep up with me now." said Minato as he did a sweeping motion with his right hand to highlight all the tri-pronged kunai scattered along the rooftop.

Kushina made it to her hands and knees before she said "Don't count us out just yet."

"Kushina-chan… I'm sorry, but this fight is over." said Minato as a sad expression crossed his face before he felt another irresistible impulse. In the blink of an eye he disappeared in a yellow flash and reappeared right in front of Kushina just before he did a front kick aimed right for Kushina's gut.

But just before his foot made contact Kushina brought her hands up and caught the attack. She then got a fierce look in her eyes as she shouted "DON'T UNDERESTIMATE ME!"

Suddenly another Kushina puffed into existence right next to Minato and delivered a vicious roundhouse kick to the side of Minato's head. The force of the blow was so great that it knocked Minato off his feet and several feet to his right, but before he even got close to the ground another Kushina appeared in a puff of smoke. She then did a sliding side-kick that connected with Minato's chin and sent him flying back in the direction he just came from.

The moment the Kushina clone finished her kick the original Kushina pulled out a storage scroll before she bit her thumb, opened the scroll and smeared her blood on the seal. As water gushed out of the seal Kushina did a series of hand-seals, then as the water started to swirl around her she said "Suiton: Suikoudan no Jutsu!" (Water Style: Water Shark Projectile Technique)

The water swirling around Kushina shot towards Minato and as it drew closer the spearhead of the water morphed and changed it's shape into that of a shark's head while the rest of the water changed into the body of a shark.

When the water shark slammed into Minato it hit him with such force that it cracked several of his rib bones. The moment he hit the rooftop, the tile cracked and split but before Minato could get up Tsunade landed her patented heel kick to his chest, which landed with enough force to completely shatter the roof supports beneath Minato, and sent him crashing to the floor below.

As the dust settled Kushina came up beside Tsunade and said "Think that effected him in any way?"

"I doubt it." replied Tsunade before Minato's hands burst through the roof tile right under them, he then grabbed a hold of their ankles and pulled them down to the floor below.

It was at this point that Yugito landed on an adjacent rooftop and surveyed the destroyed rooftop battlefield. But once she finished her initial survey she got a curious look on her face as she thought _'Hmmm… Judging from the amount of destruction here, this is the right place alright. But why don't I see them? The simple fact that there aren't any bodies lying around means that this battle is far from over. But that still begs the question: Where the hell are they?'_

Just then Yugito caught movement out of the corner of her eye. When she shifted her gaze in that direction, her eyes widened in shock as she saw none other than the Sandaime Hokage and his four ANBU bodyguards land on the rooftop of the building right next to the one she was on.

But before she could conceal her presence, she found herself surrounded by the four ANBU. Yugito looked from her left to her right and noted that all four of the ANBU hand their weapons drawn before she thought _'Shit! This isn't good.'_

Yugito had just shifted into a defensive position when Sarutobi said "Stand down!"

As the ANBU lowered their weapons Sarutobi walked between two of them and approached Yugito. When he got within a few feet of her he got a sweet grandfather-like smile on his face and said "So you're the Kumo shinobi liaison that's been in contact with Naruto."

A look of complete shock and amazement crossed Yugito's face as she said "How did you…"

Suddenly Kushina burst forth from the shattered rooftop in front of them, and slammed into a chain-link fence that surrounded the roof of the building that was on the shattered roof buildings west side. Shortly after Kushina slammed into the fence, Minato jumped out of the hole in the roof and landed on the rooftop.

Sarutobi's eyes widened in shock as he saw Minato cross the rooftop and head towards Kushina. But before he could even move a muscle the roof tile in front of Minato burst outward as Tsunade broke through the roof and delivered an uppercut to Minato's chin. This blow snapped Minato's head back and sent him flying straight up into the air before he landed on his back on the hard roof tile.

As Tsunade wiped some blood from her lip she looked at Minato, who got to his feet and started to advance toward her, before she said "That's only a small taste of what I've got planned for you. After what you did to Naru-chan…"

Minato stopped dead in his tracks and lowered his head so that his hair covered his eyes before he said "I was naïve, foolish even. Despite the fact that I knew how other Jinchuriki were treated, I truly believed that our village would be different. That they would live up to the standards that Shodia-sama and Nidaime-sama set when this village was founded. That's why I didn't take any steps to prevent my worst fears from coming true."

"And you think that exonerates you from any responsibility?" growled Tsunade as she clenched her fists and hardened her gaze.

"Far from it…" Minato then lifted his head to reveal his pain filled and remorseful eyes before he added "If anything… The responsibility for Naruto's situation should rest solely with me. As should all the punishment."

"You want it, you got it!" said Tsunade who then charged towards Minato, and as she gathered chakra into her right fist she added "This is for all the pain you've caused Naru-chan!!"

Instead of dodging Minato locked his legs in place and crossed his arms in front of his face as he braced himself for the impact. The sheer force of the impact was enough to completely pulverize the bones in Minato's forearms before it sent him flying through the building that was behind him. However he didn't stop there, he had enough moment from the blow to go through at least four more buildings before he created a small crater as he impacted the deserted street.

As Tsunade took a couple of deep breaths, Kushina landed beside her and said "You do realize that probably didn't effect him at all, right?"

"Yeah…" Tsunade the stood up straight and let a faint smile cross her face before she added "But it still felt good."

Kushina couldn't help but chuckle a little at Tsuande's comment. She then put her hand on Tsunade's shoulder and said "We need to hurry. It won't take Minato-kun long to recover from that."

Tsunade nodded her head in agreement before both of them headed off in the direction of the destroyed buildings.

"We've got to follow them." ordered Sarutobi as he and his ANBU bodyguards took off after Kushina and Tsunade.

After everyone else was out of sight Yugito looked at all the destruction that was caused in this area before she picked up a piece of the debris and muttered "This is unreal. Those three are on a completely different level than I am. The smart thing to do would be to get as far away from them as possible. I mean it's not like I promised that I'd help them out or anything."

"**But you're not going to, are you Yugito?**"

A faint smile appeared on Yugito's face as she thought _'You know me too well Nibi-san. I've finally found someone I can relate too and I'm not about to screw that up now. Besides I like the idea of having him in my debt.'_

Nibi got a smile on her face and chuckled for a few moments before she said "**Ah… my little Yugito-chan found herself a friend.**"

'_Knock it off Nibi, we've go work to do!'_ thought an angry Yugito as she dropped the piece of debris she had picked up earlier and headed off towards battle.

Meanwhile Tsunade and Kushina had just landed by the crater that was in the middle of the deserted street only to find Minato hunched over staring at his hands. As Minato opened and closed his hands he muttered "Why…, why won't you let me feel the pain of the attack. I'm already dead, and can't atone for all the pain I've caused him any other way."

When Kushina heard this she got a stern look on her face and put her hands on her hips as she said "So you finally admit that sealing Kyuubi-sama into Naruto-kun was a mistake."

"No it wasn't." replied Minato as he looked directly into Kushina's eyes before he added "When I fought Kyuubi-sama she was consumed with a blinding rage. She wouldn't listen to reason. Even if I had to do it all over again I would still seal Kyuubi-sama into Naruto in order to save the ones I care about."

Tsunade clinched her fists and as she gritted her teeth she growled "So you're telling us that you'd still put Naru-chan through that HELL just to save this shit-hole!!"

Minato quickly shifted his gaze to Tsunade and got a very serious look on his face before he said "NO! That's the last thing I would do. If anything I'd make sure to take all necessary precautions to make sure that wouldn't happen."

"Yeah right. Your actions so far have said otherwise." scoffed Tsunade as she glared at Minato.

Minato flinched at this but before he could respond he noticed Sarutobi and his ANBU guards arrive on the scene. He looked directly at Sarutobi and said "Don't interfere Sandaime-sama, the more people I fight the harder it is to control myself, and if I lose control I doubt anyone would survive."

"Underestimating us again Minato-kun?" asked Kushina as she got into her fighting stance and got ready to strike.

"Not at all…" said Minato before he quickly pulled out several tri-pronged kunai and threw them in all directions. He then disappeared in a yellow flash and when he reappeared behind Kushina he said "… I'm simply stronger than you."

**(Konoha's Main Gate)**

Anko slight the throat of an Oto shinobi before she turned around to face off against another pair of attackers. She got a sadistic smile on her face and as she raised her right hand she said "Two more sacrificial lambs to the slaughter huh? Senei Ta Jashu!" (Multiple Hidden Shadow Snake Hands)

A torrent of snake shot forth from Anko's right sleeve and wrapped around the two shinobi before Anko chuckled "Heh, heh, heh, too easy."

As one of the Oto shinobi struggled in the snake bonds he glared at Anko and snapped "You psychotic snake bitch! When I get out of this…"

Suddenly the snakes around this shinobi tightened their grip as a vein appeared on Anko's forehead and after she got a crazed look in her eye she said "Psychotic… snake… bitch. THAT'S IT!! Show this bastard the consequences of his actions!"

One of the snakes looked at Anko and nodded his head in understanding before he slithered down the mans body and positioned itself right below the mans waist. The snake then opened his mouth before it sunk it's fangs into the mans most prized possession. As the man let out a high pitched shriek, Anko got a sinister smile on her face and said "Serves you right."

"Well, I see that Anko-san is as ruthless as the rumors say." said Yuugao, who was still in her henge form of a black haired ANBU, as both she and Gekkou Hayate landed behind Anko.

Anko swiveled around and glared at the pair before she snapped "And just WHO the hell is this Hayate?"

But before Hayate could answer, Wolf landed in-between them and as she stood up she said "Sorry I'm late. Came across an Inuzuka who needed some assistance."

"I don't care about that right now!" shouted Anko before she pointed at the black haired ANBU before she added "I just want to know who the hell she is, and what her purpose is?"

Hayate took a step towards Anko and said "(Cough, cough) Please calm down Anko-san. While we can't tell you who she really is right now (cough, cough). You have my word that you can trust her."

Anko narrowed her eyes at Hayate and grabbed him by the vest before she said "Don't give me that bullshit Hayate! You know damn well that I only trust four people PERIOD! And you can be damn sure that you aren't one of them! So you'd better tell me what I want to know right now, or so help me…"

"Now, now Anko-san there's no need for that. I work for Kushina-sama and we've actually met before, but because 'Ne' is looking for me I needed to change my appearance. Now why don't you put Hayate-kun down and we can talk about this rationally." said Yuugao as she took a step closer to Anko and Hayate.

Anko shifted her gaze over to Yuugao, then back to Hayate before she said "So you're telling that this ANBU is the same purple haired shinobi that was with you at Tsunade-sama's place?"

Hayate nodded his head in an affirmative as he said "Correct Anko-san. (Cough, cough) So now you know that she isn't a threat, (cough, cough) and will do anything to protect Kushina-sama and Naruto-sama."

"And that's the only reason she's still breathing." said Anko as she let go of Hayate. She then took several steps away from the group before she turned around, put her hands on her hips and added "But if I find out that has changed… then you'll find out just how much of a bitch I can really be."

Wolf let out a sigh before she shook her head and with questioning tone in her voice she asked "Is now really the time for threats Anko-san? We are in the middle of a war after all."

Just then the last surviving Oto shinobi appeared behind Anko, but before anyone else could react Anko jerked her right arm so a kunai fell into her hand. She then did a complete one-eighty and jammed the kunai into the Oto shinobi's forehead. After the lifeless body of the shinobi fell to the ground Anko dusted her hands off and said "Well that was pathetic. What is Orochimaru teaching these guys anyway?"

Yuugao walked up to Anko and said "Anko-san I hate to interrupt you little moment here but shouldn't we execute the plan now?"

Suddenly there was a loud crash against the main gate, then another and another. After a few more impacts the wooden gate started to crack and splinter. Then when the next loud crash happened Anko and the others saw a giant snake with a scarf around his neck burst through the gate and start to wreck havoc with the surrounding shinobi.

"This isn't good. Looks like some of the enemy groups managed to summon after all. I suggest we regroup for now and figure out how to take this thing down." said Wolf as she took a couple of steps back. But when she glanced over at Anko and noticed that she was examining the snake, Wolf got a curious look behind her mask before she said "Anko-san…?"

Anko ignored everything around her and focused on the snake in front of her. When her eyes settled on the red scarf she narrowed her eyes and got a half smile on her face as she said "I know you… and I know just how to take care of you too."

Anko then bit her thumb and did a series of hand-seals before she slammed her hand on the ground and shouted "Kuchiyose no Jutsu!" (Summoning Technique)

As the smoke clears Wolf and the others see Anko standing on top of an even larger snake with several scars over its body. The said snake shifted it's eyes in an attempt to look at the person standing on top of him as he said "**What the hell do you want now Anko? You know I have better things to do than humor you."**

Anko's smile never left her face and as she pointed over to the scarf wearing snake she said "Well, FINE be that way then! I just thought that you'd like to settle your score with the one that picked on you when you were younger that's all."

"**What?!" **questioned the scared snake as his eyes widened, but when he focused on the other snake in the area he narrowed his eyes and hissed **"YOU!!"**

The scarred snake's upper lip lifted in such a way that it looked like the snake smiled and said "**Looks like I was a bit premature when I said you were wasting my time. Oh I'm going to enjoy tearing him scale from scale."**

As the scared snake started to slither forward Anko got a wicked smile of her own as she said "This is going to be fun."

**(With Naruto)**

Naruto leapt into the clear blue sky just as a concentrated, chakra induced, blast of wind passed under him and smashed into some buildings turning them into a mesh of cracked plaster and splintered wood. When Naruto landed on a nearby rooftop he turned to look at all the destruction. His eyes widened for a moment before he clenched his fists and thought _'This destruction is meaningless!! I have to find a way to wake up Gaara and weaken his power.'_

"**Kit, if you land a strong but not too strong of a blow on Gaara himself, that should wake him up."** said Kyuubi in a matter of fact tone.

Naruto's right eyebrow twitched as he got an annoyed look on his face and thought _'Well duh Baa-chan, I figured that much already! But how do you propose that I deliver a blow to Gaara when his body is somewhere within that giant monster of sand over there?'_

A foxy smile appeared on Kyuubi's face as she said "**Well that's easy kit, I know for a fact that the hosts body is kept in the head area. So all you have to do is make it to Shukaku's head, and pull Gaara far enough out to give him a good hit to the face. Simple no?"**

'_Depends on your definition of the word Baa-chan.'_ replied Naruto as he looked up at Shukaku and took a couple of deep breaths before he sighed "Alright let's do this."

Naruto then jumped off the roof and landed on the ground before he took off towards Shukaku as fast as his legs would carry him. The moment he got within striking distance however Shukaku made a fist with his right hand and as he brought it down upon Naruto he said **"Yea-ah I'm gonna squash you like a bug!!"**

Just before the fist made contact however Naruto was able to twist his body so that Shukaku's fist missed his target and made contact with the ground instead, which caused a large plume of dust to shot into the air. A few seconds later Naruto jumped out of the dust cloud and landed on Shukaku's right arm.

As Naruto ran up Shukaku's arm Temari looked on in awe, and when she saw Naruto strafe left then right to avoid the sudden sand waves that burst forth from Shukaku's arm she said "U-unbelievable, he's not only survived this long but he's actually going on the attack!"

By this time Naruto had reach Shukaku's shoulder, he then focused his chakra to his feet and jumped off the shoulder aiming for the head. As Naruto got landed on Shukaku's head he focused chakra into his right fist and slammed it into the sand.

When Naruto had the sand up to his elbow he felt the hair on Gaara's head. So he channeled Chakra into his left fist and slammed it into Shukaku's head as well. By this time the sand was up almost to Naruto's shoulder when he finally got his fingertips under Gaara's armpits and then started to use all of the strength he had left to pull Gaara out of the sand that comprised Shukaku's head.

"**Hey get offa me!"** shouted Shukaku just as Gaara's red hair started to peak through the surface. Naruto ignored Shukaku and continued to pull Gaara out, but when Gaara's head peaked out of the sand several tendrils of sand wrapped themselves around Naruto's legs, waist and arms. As the tendrils tried to pull Naruto off of Gaara, Naruto put more chakra into his arms and legs so that he won't be pulled off.

Once Naruto managed to get Gaara out to about his waist the sand tendrils wrapped around Naruto's fingers and started to pry them off of Gaara. The moment Naruto's fingers were pried from Gaara's body the sand beneath Naruto's feet began to churn and sway in an attempt to knock Naruto off balance. The very second Naruto's concentration slipped the sand beneath him shot out like a geyser while the sand tendrils hurled Naruto off in the direction of the hospital.

**(Konoha Hospital)**

Zabuza pulled his sword out of the last Oto shinobi in this raid and as the lifeless corpse hit the ground he placed his sword on his back and said "Defending a place like this is a waste of my time. I should be doing what I've been trained to do. Not babysitting the injured."

"HEY now Zabuza-san! Defending this place may not be the most glamorous job but its necessary! How would you feel if you got injured on the battlefield and didn't have a safe place to be treated?" questioned an angry Shizune as she stormed over towards Zabuza.

But the moment Shizune reached him they both caught movement out of the corner of their eyes and turned just in time to see a tan, orange and yellow blur go flying over their heads and crash through a glass window on the second floor of the hospital.

Shizune got a confused look on her face and asked "Was that… Naruto-kun?"

**(Hospital Second Floor)**

The sound of breaking glass and the subsequent thud on the wooden floor right in front of his bed was enough to bring Sasuke back to consciousness.

Sasuke shot straight up and looked around the room as he thought _'What happened? Where am I? The hospital?! How'd I get here? Last thing I remember I was facing the dube's strange jutsu.'_

Sasuke's train of thought was soon interrupted when Naruto stood up at the foot of the his bed and as Naruto pulled a shard of glass out of his left shoulder he shouted "Damn it!"

Naruto the looked out of the shattered window and added "Don't think you can get rid of me that easily!!"

The moment Naruto finished talking Sasuke got a confused look on his face before he said "What the hell are you talking about dobe?"

Naruto ignored Sasuke's question as he jumped out of the shattered window and headed back towards Shukaku.

Sasuke got an angry look on his face and immediately shoot out of bed and ran over to the window only to discover that Naruto was already out of sight. When Sasuke saw that Naruto was no longer in sight he focused his chakra to his eyes and activated his Sharingan.

As he scanned the area he noticed movement out of the corner of his eye. He got a smirk on his face as he said "There you are."

But when Sasuke turned to look his eyes widened in shock as he saw two men wearing dark cloaks with red clouds. The moment he got a good look at the dark haired man in the lead his eyes narrowed in anger as he growled "Uchiha Itachi."

Without a second thought Sasuke jumped through the shattered window and as he chased after Itachi and his parnter he thought _'Itachi, today is the day I finally get my revenge!'_

Just mere moments after Sasuke left Shizune burst through the door and scanned the room before she got a confused look on her face and said "Nobody's here?"

She then noticed that one of the beds wasn't made and a mess almost as if someone had been in it only moments before. Shizune walked over to the bed and picked up the chart that was attached to the bed. Her eyes widened in shock as she muttered "Uchiha Sasuke…"

Shizune then went over to the broken window and looked out into the village for any sigh of Naruto or Sasuke. But when she couldn't find any sign of them she looked down and noticed a glass shard that was coated in blood. She picked up the bloody shard to get a better look and as she examined it she got a worried look on her face and thought _'Naruto-kun… Just what is happening out there?'_

**(With Haku)**

When Naruto failed to return after he was initially thrown Temari let her lips curl into a smirk before she looked directly at Haku and said "Looks like your friend is history. I knew no one could challenge Gaara and live."

Haku's faith in Naruto never wavered as she got a serious look on her face and said "You're wrong. Naruto-kun's stronger than you give him credit for."

Just then a loud and bombing voice shouted "GAARA!!"

Haku let a smile cross her face and as she crossed her arms over her chest she said "See, what did I tell you?"

Naruto landed on the ground in front of Shukaku, he then looked up at the towering figure and shouted "You'll have to do better than that if you want ton take me down!"

"**WHA-HAHA-HAHA-HA! You ain't seen nothin yet." **said Shukaku before he raised his right hand.

Suddenly sand burst from the ground and started to swirl and churn around Naruto. As the sand continued to rise Naruto looked from his left to his right before he said "This is bad."

When the swirling sand completely encompassed Naruto even more sand poured out of the ground and combined with the swirling sand to create a solid spiraling ball of sand. In the absolute darkness within the ball of sand Naruto suddenly felt the spinning sand grind against his trench coat and thought _'Ah shit. Me and my big mouth.'_

Meanwhile Temari felt a shiver run down her spine when she saw the rotating ball of sand, and the moment she noticed that it started to shrink she said "It's over now, no one's ever escaped from that before."

As the ball continued to get smaller Haku got a concerned look on her face before she mumbled "Naruto-kun…"

Then Shukaku started to slowly close his right fist, which caused the ball to shrink even further, with spurts of sands shooting out as it spun like mad, a shrilled grinding noise accompanying it. As the ball shrank and the shrill sound got louder Temari closed her eyes and turned away in an attempt to block out what she knew was coming.

Mere moments after Temari turned her head Shukaku clamped his fist shut and caused the shrill sound to increase in pitch before it suddenly stopped. Then Haku's concerned look turned to one of absolute horror as the ball of sand just dissolved without any warning and left nothing but a pile of sand in it's place.

Shukaku got a huge smile on his face and tilted his head back as he said "**WHEE!! I did it! I kill'em! I finally kill'em!"**

But as Shukaku gloated several tag-laced kunai struck him in the chin before they exploded in a large mass of flame and smoke. Then almost as if he appeared out of nowhere Naruto came out of the flame filled smoke around Shukaku's head and went straight for the prone form of Gaara.

"Alright Gaara, naptimes OVER!" shouted Naruto as he delivered a right cross to Gaara's chin.

Shukaku's eyes widened in shock and as he felt himself get pulled back into the seal he whined "**No, no, no, NO! I just got out. I don't yanna go back!"**

As Shukaku went back into the seal Gaara regained consciousness and thought _'He managed to disrupt my jutsu?'_

Meanwhile Temari looked on in something akin to awe before she muttered "That's… impossible. There's no way he could have escaped from Shukaku's trap…, there's just no way."

A few moment's after Temari's mumbling, Haku's eyes widened in realization and her lips curled into a slight smile as she said "Of course! Naruto-kun must have created a Kage Bunshin before he got back here, and that's who was caught in Shukaku's grasp."

At this point Naruto landed on one of the near by rooftops, he then turned around to face the awakened Gaara and said "Well Gaara, the time has finally come for you to realize your mistakes."

**(Chunin Exam Stadium Rooftop) **

Jiraiya knocked the Nidaime down to the ground with a roundhouse kick to the head before he leapt out of the way just in time to avoid some tree roots that burst through the roof tile. As Jiraiya came out of his roll he did a series of hand-seals and channeled his chakra while he said "Ranji Shigumi no Jutsu." (Wild Lions Mane Technique)

Jiraiya's hair shot out and managed to wrap around the Shodia's arms, legs, waist, chest and neck. The moment that the Shodai was secured the hair became rigid and as hard as steel before it started to compress. Then in a sudden and violent motion the strands of hair tore right through the Shodai's armor and flesh as they combined to make the mouth of a lion.

By the time the pieces of the Shodai hit the ground, the lion's mouth had fully formed and was aimed directly at Orochimaru. But when the lion's mouth got with striking distance of Orochimaru a giant vortex of swirling water slammed right into Jiraiya with enough force to knock him off his feet, and sent him skidding along the rooftop towards the barrier.

At the last moment Jiraiya managed to focus his chakra to his hands and feet, and was able to grind to a halt just mere inches from the barrier wall. As a sopping wet Jiraiya got to his feet Orochimaru crossed his arms over his chest, got a big smirk on his face and chuckled "Ku, Ku, Ku, Ku. Oh come now Jiraiya. Did you honestly think you could actually lay a finger on me, with two former Hokages as my pawns?"

Jiraiya wiped some of his wet hair out of his eyes before he glared at Orochimaru and said "Pawns? Is that all they are to you?"

Orochimaru tilted his head slightly to the right and got his snake-like smile on his face before he replied "Of course. The role of underlings are to be pawns for those in power. After all they only exist to fulfill the ambitions of their masters. Especially in this case, Ku, Ku, Ku, Ku!"

"You are as blind as ever Orochimaru, and that's what cost you the position of Hokage to begin with." said Jiraiya just as Nidaime and the reformed Shodai appeared in-between Orochimaru and Jiraiya.

"Who cares about the Hokage! Only a fool would want that job!" shouted Orochimaru before he motioned for the Hokages to continue their assault.

When the Shodai started to do a series of hand-seals Jiraiya's eyes widened in shock before he bit his thumb and thought _'I have to be quick, if he's using THAT jutsu…'_

But just when Jiraiya was about to slam his palm into the ground the Shodai finished his hand-seals and said "Mokuton: Jukai Koutan!" (Wood Style: Birth of Dense Woodland)

Several tree buds popped out of the rooftop around Jiraiya, who then jumped into the air in an attempt to escape, but the tree buds suddenly grew and wrapped him in there interwoven branches.

As the tree branches tightened their grip on Jiraiya, Orochimaru got a smug look on his face and said "Well, who's the blind fool now Jiraiya? It's a shame really I was hoping you'd put up more of a fight than this, but I guess that's the best one can expect from the town madman."

Jiraiya just got a huge grin on his face and as he slammed his right palm onto the bark of one of the tree branches he said "Heh, it's not over yet! Kuchiyose no Jutsu!" (Summoning Technique)

As a large plume of smoke completely engulfed Jiraiya the sound of a sword being drawn from it's sheath could be heard before the sound of swift movements could be heard quickly followed by the sound of wood being chopped.

When the smoke finally cleared an orange toad dressed in traditional samurai armor but had two Katana's strapped to his back instead of just one. The armor clad toad looked up at Jiraiya and shook his head as he said "**Honestly Jiraiya, why is it every time you call me you always seem to be in a tight spot?**"

Jiraiya removed a severed tree branch from his neck before he said "Yeah well, I'd like to see how well you do when up against two undead Hokages."

"**Undead Hokages?**" said the toad as he got a confused look on his face. But when he turned and got a good look at the two Hokages a look of realization crossed his face as he said "**Damn Jiraiya, your luck's getting as bad as that blonde teammate of yours.**"

Jiraiya crossed his arms over his chest and got an annoyed look on his face before he said "Hmph, can we talk about that for later? I've come up with a plan but I need your help in order to pull it off."

The orange toad's lips curled into a smile as he said "**Come on Jiraiya, you know you can always count on me. So what's the plan?"**

"I just need you to keep Shodai-sama busy long enough for me to take care of Nidaime-sama." said Jiraiya as he kept his eyes locked on the two Hokages, who returned to Orochimaru's side.

The orange toad unsheathed his katanas and said "**Not a problem.**"

When Orochimaru saw this his snake-like smile returned he chuckled "Heh, heh, heh, Jiraiya, Jiraiya, Jiraiya surely you don't think that, that little frog will be able to help you."

"Why don't you just wait and see Orochimaru. This will be over soon enough"

Orochimaru's smile turned into a scowl before he motioned for the two Hokages to move in and finish them off. The Shodai immediately started to do a series of hand-seals and the moment he finished he said "Mokuton: Daijurin no Jutsu." (Wood Style: Great Forest Technique)

As wooden spikes shot forth from the Shodai's arm, the orange toad jumped forward. He then twisted his body so that when the wooden spikes passed underneath of him he slashed with his katanas and cut the spikes into pieces of firewood.

Meanwhile the Nidaime pulled forth a massive amount of water and when he finished the necessary hand-seals he said "Suiton: Tsuin Suiryuudan no Jutsu." (Water Style: Twin Water Dragon Projectile Technique)

The swirling water around the Nidaime suddenly formed two giant dragon heads before they shot forward. As the two dragon heads twisted around each other on their way towards Jiraiya, Orochimaru's smile returned as he said "Let's see your endless boasting get you out of this one Jiraiya."

As Jiraiya focused his chakra into the palm of his hands a small smile appeared on his face before he said "Who said I was boasting."

Jiraiya then charged forward and when the two water dragon's got within range he brought his hand up to reveal two fully formed Rasengans. The moment the two attacks collided water went flying in all directions as Jiraiya continued towards his target. But when his attacks were mere inches from connecting to the Nidaime, Jiraiya canceled the jutsus, and before the Nidaime could react Jiraiya got a firm grip on his forearms.

Suddenly a second Jiraiya came out from behind one of the trees, that was created from the Shodai's earlier attack, and quickly moved behind the Nidaime before he violently jammed his hand into the back of Nidaime's head.

A sickening sloshing sound could be hear as Jiraiya removed his bloody hand from the back of the Nidaime's head, thus removing the tag laced kunai. When Jiraiya's hand was completely out of the head he immediately removed the tag from the kunai and then proceeded to tear the tag into itty bitty pieces.

The moment the tag was destroyed the Nidaime's charka started to leak out of his artificial body. The first sign of this is when the Nidaime's skin got a grey tone to it before it started to crumble like ash. As this is happening the Nidaime looked Jiraiya dead in the eyes and with no emotion what so ever said "I'm sorry for all the trouble I've caused you Jiraiya."

Before anymore of the Nidaime's chakra left his body Jiraiya reached into his vest and pulled out a seal tag. He then slapped the tag onto the Nidaime's back and said "This isn't what this was designed for but it's worth a shot."

Once the tag was activated the Nidaime's deterioration stopped, but his skin color didn't return. As the Nidaime looked at his hands Jiraiya got a big goofy grin on his face and said "Damn I'm good! Only I could create a seal with this kind of unexpected bonus."

Jiraiya's face then got a more serious tone to it and as he turned to face the Nidaime he said "Now you should be free of Orochimaru's control Nidaime-sama. So I humbly ask your help in dealing with Shodai-sama while I handle Orochimaru."

Nidaime had a blank look on his face when he said "Very well, I will assist Konoha… one last time."

As the Nidaime moved off towards the Shodai, Orochimaru narrowed his eyes at Jiraiya before he hissed "Damn you Jiraiya! You never use Kage Bunshins?! That's just not your style. So why start now?"

Jiraiya let his lips curl into a smile as he said "Let's just say, I picked it up from a student of mine."

Orochimaru's eyes narrowed even further in anger for a few moments before his snake-like smile returned as he said "Oh well it doesn't really matter anyway. All this means is I get to have the pleasure of crushing you myself."

"Oh no, I've been waiting for this chance ever since my failure when you fled." said Jiraiya as a fierce determination started to flow through him.

Orochimaru's snake-like smile got even bigger as he chuckled "Ah yes I remember now. That's when you were too weak and sentimental to stop me. I always knew you were too soft to be a real shinobi."

Jiraiya narrowed his eyes and pointed at Orochimaru with his right hand before he replied "Not this time Orochimaru. It's just you and me now, and I intend to end it here."

**(With Tsunade and Kushina)**

Tsunade skidded across the dirt laden street and came to a halt, right beside Kushina, at the edge of the crater. As both women got up on one knee Tsunade wiped some blood from her chin before she said "Damn it! As long as he uses that Hiraishin no Jutsu (Flying Thunder God Technique) of his we can't even lay a finger on him."

"Well then I guess that means I have no other choice." said Kushina as she pulled out a kunai that had an odd seal tag attached to its hilt.

When Tsunade got a good look at the tag laced kunai her eyes widened in shock as she said "Is that…?"

"Yeah…, it's taken me nearly fifteen years and it's nowhere near battle ready but it's the only option we have right now." said Kushina, who then locked her sights on Minato before she added "Tsunade-sama I need you to listen very carefully. I won't be able to keep it up for very long. So while I keep Minato-kun distracted I need you to go and destroy his seal tags."

The moment Tsunade nodded her head in agreement Minato took a step forward and pulled out one of his tri-pronged kunai before he said "Well have you two come up with a plan of action yet? Because if things keep going the way they are now, we both know the outcome."

Kushina tightened her grip on the kunai and got a half smile on her face as she said "Don't count us out yet Minato-kun. I still have a few tricks up my sleeve."

"Then I suggest you use them now Kushina-chan. Because the longer this fight drags on the greater my advantage will be." said Minato as he twirled his tri-pronged kunai around his index finger.

"What are you talking about?" asked Kushina as her right eyebrow arced in curiosity.

Minato stopped twirling his kunai and caught it in his hand as he said "Isn't it obvious? The longer this fight goes on the smaller your chakra reserves will be, and once you run out of chakra the fight will be over. I on the other hand no longer have that handicap."

Kushina got a suspicious look in her eyes before she tightened her grip on her kunai and said "What do you mean, you no longer have that handicap? You use chakra just like the rest of us."

"You're forgetting one crucial thing Kushina-chan. This is an artificial body that replicates my appearance at the time of my death. Meaning that not only does this body regenerate no matter how many times it's destroyed but it also retains the exact same amount of chakra that I had at my prime." replied a deadly serious Minato.

Kushina's eyes widened in shock at this realization before she said "No, than that means…"

"That's right Kushina-chan, you can't tire me out and then try to remove the kunai in my head. You have to take it from me when I'm at my best." said Minato as he started to walk towards Kushina and Tsunade.

But the moment Minato took another step forward a metal rod landed off to his right side quickly followed by another one on his left and the two more behind him. Minato looked at the four metal rods, that made an almost perfect square around him, and said "What are these, so kind of lightning rods?"

Suddenly Yugito popped out from behind a building and did a quick series of hand-seals before she said "Raiton: Kuchisaki no sono Kichigai Hekireki Nushi!" (Lightning Style: Mouth of the Angry Thunder God) [Thanks to Sweet Heavens for letting me use this jutsu]

The Tenketsu's within her body started to generate an insane amount on lightning chakra. Yugito then focused all of this power to the tenketsu's within her right palm. When she felt the lightning charge reach it's peak Yugito discharged all the pent up energy. Lightning shot forth from her hand and arced straight for the metal lightning rods.

When the lightning made contact with one of the rods it immediately arced to the other three to create a sort of electrical fence and once the rods had reached their peak charge Yugito used her chakra and directed the lightning on all the rods to discharge their energy inward at Minato.

As the lightning surged through Minato's body he looked down at his twitching arms and thought _'Once again you deny me the feeling of pain. But it's still strange… I can still feel when my skin comes into contact with another object yet any feeling of pain refuses to register.' _

The moment the electrical discharge faded Yugito moved at her top speed and ducked behind one of the buildings along the west side of the street. Yugito's back pressed up against the cold plastered walls and a bead of sweat ran down the side of her face as she thought _'What the hell is this guy? He took the full force of my jutsu and didn't even scream in pain. I need to move to another location fast before…'_

Just then a tri-pronged kunai pressed up against Yugito's neck. Minato then leaned in next to her ear and said "Tell me, why is a Kumo kunoichi getting herself involved?"

Yugito's lips suddenly curled up into a sly smile before she said "Just keeping a promise to my lover."

Minato's got a curious look on his face before he asked "And just who is this lover of yours?"

"Uzumaki Naruto." replied Yugito as her smile got an even crafter gleam to it.

"Wha…?" muttered a wide eyed Minato when a fist suddenly burst through the plaster wall behind him quickly followed by another fist.

Before Minato could recover from his shock the two hands grabbed his shoulders and pulled him through the wall. A few seconds later Minato was thrown through the front of the store and crashed onto the street. When Yugito took a step closer to the hole Tsunade walked out of the hole and eyed Yugito as she said "Naru-chan's lover huh?"

Yugito suddenly got very nervous and got a sheepish grin on her face as she said "Uh… well you see.."

"Over my dead body!" interrupted Tsunade as she narrowed her eyes at the poor girl.

By this time Minato had just gotten to his feet when Kushina appeared behind him and tried to ram her kunai into the back of his head. But at the last moment Minato ducked under the attack and then twisted his body to deliver a spinning heel kick to Kushina's chest.

The moment Kushina hit the ground she maneuvered into a roll and when she got to her feet Minato said "Nice try Kushina-chan, but adding Naruto's lover to this fight won't change the outcome."

Kushina got a perplexed look on her face and said "Naruto-kun's… lover?"

"To think that Naruto not only has that dark haired girl he was with earlier, but also that blonde kumo kunoichi that just attack me. Man Jiraiya-sensei must be having a field day with this." said Minato as shook his head when he mentioned Jiraiya.

Kushina's perplexed look turned to on of absolute confusion before she said "What are you talking about Minato-kun?"

When Minato saw the look on Kushina's face the truth finally dawned on him and he said "Ah I see know… heh, heh, clever she really had me going there. Now then let us finish this Kushina-chan."

"What?" asked a still confused Kushina when a sudden flash of yellow passed right by her and the next thing she knew Minato grabbed her by her shoulders.

He then went into a back roll and used his legs to hurl Kushina down the street. With Kushina still in the air Minato got a sad look on his face and started a series of hand-seals as he said "It's over now Kushina-chan."

But before he could finish the seals Kushina twirled around in midair and when she threw he tag laced kunai she said "It's not over yet!"

Minato was forced to break his hand-seal in order to avoid the kunai, and as it passed by his body he said "Not bad Kushina-chan. You managed to disrupt my jutsu, but…."

Unfortunately Minato never got the chance to finish as there was a suddenly flash of blue and Kushina appeared behind him with the tag laced kunai in hand. Minato instinctively ducked down and went into a forward roll just as Kushina attempted to imbed her kunai into his skull.

When Minato came out of his roll and got to his feet, he looked at Kushina with something akin to shock and awe as he simply said "How?"

Kushina shrugged her shoulders and said "What? You didn't think I'd have that scroll in my possession for the last fifteen years and not learn anything, did you?"

"I impressed Kushina-chan. I never imagined that you'd be able to pull off the Hiraishin no Jutsu. But I seriously doubt that a single kunai will give you the maneuverability that I have." said Minato with a little bit of pride in his voice before he shifted into a defensive stance.

Kushina's lips curled up into a smirk and as she reached into her pouch she said "Oh? And who said I only had one?"

Minato's eyes widened in realization before he said "You don't mean…"

She then moved at incredible speed and hurled several kunai at Minato as she said "That's right Minato-kun! Now we're on the same level."

**(With Naruto)**

Naruto unsheathed his kodachi, which caused the blood red blade to glisten in the sunlight, just in time to slash through most of sand shurikens that were headed right at him, however the ones that got through his guard left nicks and cuts all over his skin and cloths.

After the shuriken assault was over Naruto took a couple of deep breaths before he looked up at Gaara and said "We don't have to do this Gaara. This battle has become meaningless."

"Meaningless? This is the reason for my existence." said Gaara as he focused his chakra and caused the giant hand of Shukaku to go towards Naruto.

Naruto managed to roll out of the way just as the giant hand slammed into the ground, but the moment that he came out of his roll a column of sand shot out from Shukaku's hand. Before Naruto has a chance to react the sand knocks him up against the side of a building, which knocked his kodachi out of his hand, before it extended around him to grab onto the wall. As the sand started to compress Naruto focused his chakra into his muscles and began to struggle against the sand.

When Gaara saw Naruto's struggles he increased his charka flow to the sand and said "I'll crush every bone in your body!"

As the crushing pressure increased Naruto clenched his teeth and tried to focus even more chakra into his muscle to increase his strength. This effort pays off as Naruto's right arm bursts forth from the sand. The moment his hand was freed a spiraling orb of blue chakra started form in his palm and with a smile on his face he said "Not today Gaara!"

Once the spiraling orb of chakra was completely formed, Naruto slammed it into the column of sand that pinned him to the wall and shouted "RASENGAN!!"

Sand spewed in all directions as the Rasengan plowed right through the column of sand. As soon as the Rasengan severed the connection to Shukaku's hand Naruto used every ounce of strength he could muster and with great effort managed to break out of the sand that had him pinned to the wall.

After Naruto was free he collapsed to one knee and took several ragged breaths as he picked up Kyuubi's Claw and thought _'Damn it, this isn't good! My body's starting to feel heavy and sluggish. I guess all that fighting has finally caught up with me. If I don't find a way to get through to Gaara soon, I'll have no other choice but to…'_

"**Are you giving up already Kit? I thought you were tougher than this. What? You get a little tired and you've already decided to throw in the towel, and not go through with that 'I'm going to save Gaara' thing?"** interrupted Kyuubi, who had a hint of sarcasm in her voice in an attempt to get a rise out of Naruto.

Kyuubi's gambit paid off as Naruto narrowed his eyes and sheathed Kyuubi's claw before he got to his feet and thought _'And just when did I say I was going to give up? I may be tired but I'm sure as hell not going to change my Nindo! Now if you don't have any helpful advice Baa-chan, could you stop bothering me? I going to need all my concentration in order to pull this off.'_

A smile that showed of Kyuubi's fangs appeared on her face as she said "**Heh, looks like I don't need to bug you anymore. Guess my job is done here.**"

"Huh?" replied a confused Naruto. But he didn't have long to contemplate Kyuubi's words because just a few moments after he spoke sand started to come up from the ground and swirl around his feet.

"Shit!" growled Naruto as he jumped into the air just before the sand could ensnare his feet, and once he landed on a nearby rooftop he wiped some sweat from his brow before he added "Whew that was close. I really don't want to force my way out of that sand again."

When Gaara saw Naruto evade his sand he got a sadistic smile on his face and said "Interesting, interesting! Not bad Uzumaki Naruto! Oh yes now I see why you gave Kaa-san so much trouble."

"Kaasan?!" blurted out Naruto as he got a shock and confused look on his face.

After Naruto's little outburst Gaara got a crazed look in his eyes as he said "And now I'll crush your bones to dust. After that, after that I'll hunt down and destroy everyone that's important to you. Heh, heh, heh, ha, ha, ha, haaaa!"

Naruto got a very serious look on his face and his eyes flashed red as they narrowed before he bluntly said "Gaara I'm only going to say this once. I don't care about the fact that you're a fellow Jinchuuriki, if you ever threaten my precious people again… there won't be a place on this planet that will be able to protect you!."

Meanwhile Haku and Temari returned to staring each other down, and after a few more moment of silence Haku said "Well it sounds like Gaara has gotten on Naruto-kun's bad side, and that is a fatal mistake."

Temari's reaction to this is not what you would expect, for she suddenly got a smirk on her face and said "Oh I think you're the one that's made the fatal mistake."

Haku's right eyebrow arced in confusion but she never got to vocalize her question because a metallic spike suddenly burst from her chest.

Temari's smirk never left her face as she looked at the puppet behind Haku and said "What took you so long Kankuro?"

It was at this moment that Naruto noticed movement out of the corner of his eye and turned to see Kankuro's puppet had pierced Haku's back. Naruto's look immediately turned to one of panic and as he stretched his right hand out in the direction of Haku he shouted "HAKU-CHAN!!"

Gaara took complete advantage of this distraction and used Shukau's hand to back fist Naruto off of the rooftop. This blow had enough power behind it to cause Naruto to smash through the wall and completely snap the main support beam of a small food stand, which caused the building to collapse around him.

At that very same instant Temari took a couple of steps towards Haku before she got a baffled look on her face when she noticed that the wound on her chest wasn't bleeding. Suddenly a cracking sound could be heard before cracks started to appear around Haku's chest wound, Temari then tilted her head slightly to the left and said "What?"

The cracks continued to grow and extend out from the chest wound until Haku's body shattered into thousands of ice shards. But instead of falling to the ground like one would expect these ice shards shot out towards Temari and Kankuro's puppet. Temari crossed her arms in front of her face and gritted her teeth as her skin was pelted with all those shards. Those very same shards had enough force behind them that after a few impacted her body they knocked Temari on her butt.

Up on one of the few remaining rooftops Kankuro crouched down to better conceal his position as he thought _'Uh-ho this is bad. That girl is WAY better than I thought. Looks like we're going to have to hit her hard and fast if we want to end this quick. Now where is she hiding?'_

While Kankuro scanned the area looking for Haku, Temari felt a chill run down her spine again as the temperature around her started to drop. As she got to her feet Temari looked from left to right in anticipation of an attack, but when none came she narrowed her eyes in a calculating manner and thought _'Why didn't she follow through with her attack? With both of us caught off guard like that it was the perfect opportunity to take one of us out. Just what are you planning?'_

Temari's question was soon answered when a giant spike made out of ice burst through the ground. Temari was just barely able to jump back and avoid being impaled by the spike. Her safety was short lived however as yet another spike burst forth and Temari did a back flip in order to avoid it, but the moment she landed on her feet another spike came out followed by another and then another, which caused her to do a series of back flips to dodge the spikes.

The moment Temari came out of her last back flip she felt the prick of a senbon press up against her neck. Temari's eyes widened in surprise and a slight hint of fear as Haku leaned up next to her left ear and in an ice cold voice said "Nice try, but you didn't think I'd fall for that did you?"

Haku's eyes darted to the right and she turned her head so she could see behind her before she was forced to twist her body, removing the senbon from Tremari's neck in the process, in order to dodge the blade that was connected to Kankuro's puppet's forearm.

When the puppet turned to face Haku a single drop of liquid fall from the tip of its blade, this caused Haku to narrow her eyes as she thought _'Poison huh? This could be tricky.'_

Suddenly the puppet charged forward and poised its blade at the ready. As the puppet drew closer, Haku channeled some of her chakra into the palms of her hands, and when the puppet tried to stab Haku in the chest she easily sidestepped the blow. She then grabbed a hold of the puppets forearm and said "Hyouton: Tsumetai Souhou." (Ice Style: Icy Touch)

The puppet's arm underneath Haku's hand started to turn a pale blue and got a thick layer of frost on it, almost as if it was blasted with liquid nitrogen. Mere seconds after this happened Haku snapped her hand up and the frozen part of the arm easily shattered separating the bladed arm from the rest of the body. When Kankuro saw this he got an angry and pained look on his face as he said "You bitch! I'm going to make you pay for what you did to Crow. If you think that was his only trick you're sorely mistaken."

Haku tossed Crow's arm to the ground and turned around just in time to see that Temari was back to her feet with her battle fan poised and at the ready, along side her was Kankuro's puppet, Crow with a blade extended from his remaining arm ready to strike. Haku shifted into a defensive stance and readied herself for the upcoming assault.

**(At the Destroyed Food Stand)**

Naruto threw off several pieces of debris and shouted "Haku-chan!"

He then made it to his feet and tried to use some of the techniques Kyuubi taught him to locate Haku. When he couldn't sense her at all he started to get a little anxious and loose even more focus. That's when he suddenly heard **"I thought I taught you better than this kit! You're letting your anxiety get the better of you. You need to calm down and focus on the task at hand.!"**

'_But…'_

Kyuubi let a deep growl escape from her throat before she said **"NO BUTS! You have the skill to pull this off. So calm down and focus on the task at hand, NOW!!"**

The harshness in Kyuubi's voice shook Naruto to the core and caused him to redouble his efforts. The just as he reached the limits of his concentration his lips curled into a smile and said "I can feel her chakra signature. Haku-chan's alive! SHE'S ALIVE!!"

Naruto jumped into the air and gave a little whoop of excitement, but when he landed back on the ground the impact caused a picture that was on top of a large pile of debris to slide off, and cracked Naruto in the head.

"OW!" shouted Naruto as he rubbed the bump on his head. He then leaned down and picked up the picture frame before he turned it over to get a better look. The moment he saw the contents of the picture his eyes widened in shock as he mumbled "No, no it can't be…"

When he rubbed the dust away from the picture his heart skipped a beat, for he saw himself at the age of four, with Anko on his left, an eight year old Ayame on his right and the owner of the stand, Teuchi, standing behind them. Naruto gripped the picture a little tighter and quickly scanned the debris as if he was trying to assure himself that it wasn't real. That's when his eyes fell upon the remains of an old stool, its red leather seat cracked and faded from many years of use. Upon closer inspection Naruto noticed a small notch at the base of the seat that had been made a long time ago to prove he was big enough to sit on the stool all by himself. Naruto immediately turned away from the stool in an attempt to block it out of his mind as he thought _'No, no, nonononononononono, no.'_

But the direction Naruto turned put him in direct line of sight of what was left of the food stand's sign, which simple read 'Ichiraku'. Naruto's grip on the picture tightened to such a degree that he cracked the glass cover before he tiled his head skyward and at the top of his lungs screamed "YOU BAASTAARRRDD!!! THIS WAS THE ONLY PLACE I COULD EAT IN THIS DAMN VILLAGE!!"

Naruto then brought his head down and glared at Gaara before he growled "That's the last straw! First you threaten the ones I care about, then YOU DESTROYED THE ONLY PLACE THAT TREATED ME LIKE A HUMAN BEING!"

He then bit his right thumb, did a series of hand-seal, and as he slammed his hand on the ground he said "Kuchiyose no Jutsu!" (Summoning Technique)

As chakra flowed through Naruto's right hand smoke exploded to encompass the entire area surrounding Naruto. When the smoke cleared it reveal that Naruto was standing on the head of the giant chief toad Gamabunta. Naruto crossed his arms over his chest and fixed his hardened gaze on Gaara before he said "Alright Gaara, this time there's no holding back!"

Next Chapter: A Hokage's Wrath!

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Author's note2: Well as you can guess I'll be wrapping up the invasion in the next chapter. So I hope to see you all there. Until next time Later.


	31. Hokage's Wrath part 1

"Speech"

'_Thoughts'_

**Demon/Summon/inner Sakura speech**

_**Demon/Summon thoughts**_

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or any of the characters created by Kishimoto, but all OC's are my own creation.

Now on with the story

Author's note: I'm back!

Chapter 31: A Hokage's Wrath Part 1!

**(Konoha Academy)**

The hot afternoon sun beat down upon NiYal, Anika and Tsunami as they peered through a chain linked fence from atop their rooftop lookout. They looked on in a speechless awe as Gaara in his Shukaku form and Gamabunta stared each other down. When NiYal noticed Naruto standing atop Gamabunta his speechless awe turned to one of shock and disbelief. His jaw opened so wide that it looked like it would fall off and after he blinked a couple of times to make sure he saw what he thought he saw he finally broke the silence. "I don't believe it. Naruto-sama… Naruto-sama was actually able to summon Gamabunta! The Chief Toad said to have helped defeat the Kyuubi all those years ago. I knew Naruto-sama was good, but to already be at that level…wow."

A bright mischievios sparkle appeared in Anika's eyes and once all the possible outcomes for the future flew through her mind she pumped her fist into the air and shouted "Naruto-sama… YOU ROCK!"

NiYal immediately recognized the tone in Anika's voice. "Oh no…" he muttered to himself as he slapped his forehead with his right hand and sighed "… not this again."

"Hey!" shouted Anika, slightly annoyed by NiYal's implication she shot him a harsh glare, put her hands on her hips, to make her anger more apparent, and grumbled "And just what is THAT suppose to mean?"

NiYal shook his head in disbelief at Anika's apparent naivety towards his comment before he huffed "Oh come on Anika. We all know how you get when you meet a strong shinobi that's not trying to kill you. That added with the fact that he's Kushina-sama's only son makes it blatantly obvious what you have planned."

"What's the matter…" asked Anika as she swayed her hips as she walked up to him and in an effort to be as suggestive as possible leaned in until she was right up against his ear. Then with a hint of seduction in her voice she whispered "Jealous?"

This action caught NiYal by complete off guard and while he tried his hardest to sputter comprehensive words Tsunami came up and pulled them apart. With annoyance clearly written all over her face, she glared at the two and snapped "Would you two knock it off! This situation has become far more dangerous than you realize!"

"What are you talking about?" asked a completely baffled Anika and as she tried to make sense of Tsunami's comments she tilted her head to the right, arced her right eye brow and added "Now that Naruto-sama has summoned Gamabunta this fight is pretty much over."

"Don't you get it? That's what's got me worried." shot back an aggrivated Tsunami who couldn't believe that her teammates didn't see the upcoming danger. In an effort to calm herself she took several deep breaths as she walked over to the edge of the rooftop. Once there she put her hands on the warm metal of the chain link fence before she looked out at the two Titans and prayed that Naruto would be able to handle this fight the right way. After a few more moments of silence she turned back towards her teammates and said "If those two fight here their sheer size will most likely destroy what's left of this village. And let's not forget about the jutsu's they're most likely going to use."

The meaning of Tsunami's words hit NiYal like a tone of brick and gave him a sick feeling in the pit of his stomach as he remembered his own past. Once he pushed those horrible memories back into the back recesses of his mind, he walked up next to Tsunami and followed her worried gaze out towards the two giants before he said "You're right Tsunami… we can't allow that to happen. Losing your home… that's a scenario I wouldn't wish on my worst enemy."

"And just what would you suggest we do about it NiYal?" Tsunami snapped because no matter how hard she tried she couldn't come up with a course of action to save her life. After a few more seconds of unproductive and aggravating contemplation she turned towards NiYal and sighed "It's not like we can just go and help out Naruto-sama. We simply don't have the skills necessary to be of any help… If we went we'd just be in Naruto-sama's way."

As both NiYal and Tsunami went into an uncomfortable silence over the matter Anika noticed something out of the corner of her eye. When she peered through the chain link fence and saw several small figures moving along the rooftops. The smile that crept onto her face made her two teammates question her sanity but those thoughts were quickly shelved when she said "Looks like we don't have to worry about that anymore."

Curiosity got the best of NiYal, he arced his right eyebrow and crossed his arms over his chest as he asked "What do you mean?"

Anika's smile only got bigger as he casually pointed off to the right side of the Academy and said "Take a look over there."

When NiYal and Tsunami shifted their gaze in the direction Anika pointed, they where astounded to see Asuma and Kurenai at the head of a small attack group, consisting of three chunin, on a direct intercept course with Naruto and Gaara. NiYal's shock expression morphed into a smug grin on his face as he scoffed "Well it's about damn time Konoha got off their asses."

"But you know…" He suddenly said as the knowledge of the dark aspects of Naruto's childhood buried deep within the recesses of his mind pushed itself to the forefront, and just as quickly as it appeared his smile turned to into a frown while he grumbled "With the way this village treats Naruto-sama, I won't be surprised if they waited this long on purpose."

Tsunami didn't like the accusations seeping from NiYal's words. So she balled up her fist and nailed him in the arm before she yelled "Hey cut them some slack will you!" Then after she got his full attention she decided to interject some reason into his mind; "I doubt they hate Naruto-sama so much that they would purposely take this long. I'm sure they didn't even know that Suna had a creature like that in their arsenal."

"Are you really so sure of that?" questioned Anika, as the tone in her voice gave away the anxiety and worry that she felt. But when she remembered the Intel she received about the villagers an anger welled up inside her, and as she leaned up against the chain-linked fence she callously stated "Did you forget about the briefing Kushina-sama gave us? The people of this village nearly killed Naruto-sama once. Who's to say that they won't try it again?"

Tsunami, who always tried to think the best of people, just couldn't believe that anyone would got that far and this internal confusion was plastered all over her face as she muttered "Surely they wouldn't…"

"We can't take that risk Tsunami." interrupted NiYal as his mind started to formulate a course of action, and when he finally settled on a plan he turned his gaze back to his two teammates and said "Anika, I want you to inform Akira-sensei about this and request some backup. That way we can be ready to aid Naruto-sama if the worst happens."

Anika pushed herself off of the fence and did a two fingered salute as she said "On it."

But before Anika could even move a step Tsunami appeared right by her side and placed her hand on Anika's left shoulder. "Hang on a moment!" she snapped as all the possible outcomes of this action ran through her head, and when she couldn't figure out NiYal's course of action she turned towards him and asked "Just what do you plan to do once Anika goes to inform Akira-sensei NiYal?"

"Well obviously one of us needs to stay here and continue our lookout assignment. That's why I want you to wait here until Anika and Akira-sensei return." remarked NiYal as he pointed at Tsunami to emphasize his point. He then turned around and tested the strength of the chain-linked fence. Once he was satisfied that it would hold his weight he looked over his shoulder at Tsunami and said "Meanwhile I'll head over to Naruto-sama's location just incase something happens before back-up arrives."

"Hey!" snapped a concerned Tsunami but then hesitated for a moment, almost as if she was afraid of the answer to her next question: "Why is it that you always get to go on ahead and I get stuck in the rear?"

Tsunami's words struck a chord in NiYal and as he reached to the top of the fence, he suddenly felt the full weight of his own personal burden bare down on his shoulders. He looked down with a look of a worn out old man he pointed to the sword on his back and solemnly stated "Because… if the situation goes south I can unleash Talon's full power."

That one statement through Tsunami and Anika for a loop, from they both knew full well the outcome of such a scenario. The fear and apprehension they both felt bled through into their voices when they both shouted "You, you can't serious! If you unleash that much power at your current level you'll…"

"Don't you think I know that!" shot back NiYal clearly angered over the prospect of the outcome. But when he saw the worried looks he got from his two teammates he took several moment to collect himself and once he calmed down he got a gentle look on his face he tried to reassure his team: "Hey come on now you two. You know there's no need to worry about that. After all with Naruto-sama and myself working together there's no way things will get that bad."

" Maybe…" mumbled Tsunami still uneasy about the whole idea. "But I still don't think this is a good idea." Forcing that uneasiness aside she walked up to the fence and in a last ditch effort to change NiYal's mind said "You did see who the two Jounin leading that group were right?"

"The two Jounin?" asked NiYal who just couldn't see the point Tsunami was trying to make. So in order to understand this better he decided to jump back down and question her directly "Just what are you getting at Tsunami? What do those two Jounin have to do with this?"

"Everything!" snapped Tsunami as she grabbed a hold of NiYal's shoulders and looked in directly in the eyes in the hopes that her words would make since to him "Their names are Sarutobi Asuma and Yuuhi Kurenai. Both of whom have a history of never harming Naruto-sama and have even stood up of him on occasion. So I hardly think they'd suddenly have a change of heart." After this outburst Tsunami's confidence rose and in a last ditch effort to voice her worries she poked him in the chest and in a stern voice stated "Now why don't you just calm down and think this through rationally before you cause an incident that could insight a war!"

The very thought of insighting a war made NiYal's stomach churn as memories of experiences flooded his mind. NiYal used every ounce of his training to push those memories back to the dark recesses of his mind where they belonged. Once he cleared his mind and gave Tsunami a stern look for bringing up bad memories before she said "You know damn well that's the last thing I would ever want to do. So fine! We'll play it your way for now, but I just hope your right about this."

As NiYal walked away from Tsunami an enormous amount of guilt flood her being for causing NiYal to remember the horrors of his past and as she looked off in the direction to Gamabunta she quietly muttered "So do I NiYal… so do I."

**(With Naruto)**

As the cloud of dust that appeared when Gamabunta was summoned dissipated, both Naruto and Gaara continued to stare each other down, neither of them daring to make a move before the other. But with the destruction of Ichiraku still fresh in his mind Naruto's patience was already worn thin, and once that wore out he swiftly raised his right hand and pointed at Gaara as he shouted "Alright Chief Toad. Let's kick his ass!"

Gamabunta glanced at Gaara before he surveyed his surroundings and saw that most of the buildings in the area were nothing but rubble. The buildings that had survived were covered in cracks with splintered wood and chunks of plaster hanging off them. He quickly determined that these buildings were no longer fit to live in. Not wanting to cause further damage to the village he shifted his gaze upward and simply stated "**No thanks.**"

"What?" whined Naruto, shocked that the chief of the Toad contract didn't want to help him even after seeing the destruction that Gaara has caused. Still slightly shaken from Gamabunta's lack of fighting spirit, Naruto looked down at the light brown head of chief toad and stuttered "But…but I thought you were the one that wanted me to have your summoning contract? Doesn't that mean you wanted us to fight side by side?"

Completely unfazed by Naruto's query Gamabunta simply took several puffs from his black nicotine filled pipe and had one final look around the devastated area filled with pieces of wood and plaster that were at one time buildings that people lived and worked in before he grumbled "**Listen here you little runt, aside from the fact that we haven't even sealed the deal with sake yet. You do realize where we are, and what will happen if we fight here, right?**"

"Yeah…" mumbled Naruto as he got distracted by all the nasty memories of his early childhood that rushed to the forefront of his mind, and once he was able to push the them back he completed his thought "…I know exactly where we are."

"But that doesn't matter right now." said Naruto, who now focused on the more recent events of Haku's battle and Ichiraku's destruction. These thoughts brought forth a conflicting series of emotions, on one hand he had a very strong desire to go and help out Haku so nothing bad would happen to her, but on the other hand the recent destruction of Ichiraku's left him with an overwhelming rage at loosing the only place that ever treated him like a human being. The moment that these emotions reached a boiling point Naruto focused in on Gaara and growled "All that matters is that we take Gaara down hard and fast, for all he's done. I'll show him not to mess with my only safe haven here. Once that's done, I'll be able to go and help out Haku-chan."

The concern in Naruto's voice at the mention of Haku didn't go unnoticed by Gamabunta. This got the Chief Toad curious as to Naruto's true motives here, so he tilted his head slightly to the right and asked "**Haku-chan?**"

Naruto looked down at Gamabunta's head and as he thought about Haku a warm feeling washed through his body that almost erased the anger he felt for the destruction of Ichiraku. As this warm feeling increased Naruto's lips curled into a smile while he said "She's someone very important to me, and I don't want anything bad to happen to her. So are you going to help me finish this or not Chief Toad?"

The sincerity in Naruto's voice caused Gamabunta to remain silent for a few moments before he took another puff from his pipe and said "**Heh, I'll help you out you little runt."** Gamabunta then got a serious look on his face as he contemplated the situation, and after another moment of silence he added** "…But just so you know I don't know any jutsu's that can take him down hard and fast. So you'd better have something up your sleeve. Otherwise this is going to get messy."**

"You've got to be kidding me!" shouted Naruto, totally shocked that such a large summons didn't have a jutsu for this kind of situation. Still in a state of disbelief over Gamabunta's last statement he looked down at the chef toad and asked "You mean you don't have some super killer awesome jutsu you could use to win this fight?"

"**Nope." **

The flatness in Bunta's voice caused a deep depression to fill Naruto's being and as he slumped his shoulders he grumbled "Ah shit…" With that option closed to him Naruto's mind drifted to the only possible choice he had left. "… I guess that means I have no other choice then. But that jutsu is only fifty percent complete, and to add to that I'm not that good with it yet. So I'm going to need an opening in order to score a direct hit."

"**Just an opening huh?**" retortedGamabunta and as he pulled out his dagger out of his sheath his lips curled into a smile before he added "**That will be easy."**

**(With Haku) **

The swiftness of Crow's poison tipped blade was apparent when it moved several strands of Haku's hair as it passed mere inches above her head. The only reason it didn't decapitate her was because she had ducked at the last moment and went into a roll. When she came out of it she pulled out a senbon and threw it at the puppet's elbow joint. The instance the senbon lodged itself into place the joint was rendered immobile and useless. Just then Temari appeared beside Haku and in the blink of an eye moved to strike her with her battle fan.

But before the fan even came close to Haku, a devastating flying side-kick was delivered to Temari's right side. The blow landed with such force that it sent her crashing to the ground. Haku immediately spun around expecting to see that Naruto had come to her aid, but when she saw the long jet black hair and camouflaged pants her eyes widened in shock for never in a million years did she expect to see her again. And once the shock wore off Haku was able to mutter "Kin… Kin-san? But I thought you…"

"Don't get the wrong idea here." interrupted Kin as she looked over her shoulder at Haku and when she saw that Haku had a quizzical look on her face her own expression became serious as she added she added "I still think that whole happiness thing is total bullshit. I just came back for the steady meals, got it."

Picking up on the small undertone in her voice a small smile appeared on Haku's face before she nodded her head and replied "Understood Kin-san."

By now Temari had made managed to make it back to her feet and Kankuro was able to use his chakra strings to wiggle the senbon out of Crow's left elbow joint. When Haku and Kin saw that both Suna shinobi were getting ready to launch another attack they got into their fighting stances, and once they were ready Kin glanced over at Haku as she said "Now… how are we going to handle this?"

"You can have the puppeteer and his puppet." replied Haku as she fixed her gaze on their two opponents to make sure they didn't try anything funny, but once her eyes locked with Temari's she added "I'll handle the wind user. She and I still have some unfinished business."

This time it was Kin who noticed the undertone and in an effort to lighten the mood a little she rolled her eyes and pouted "Oh sure… give me one that's in hiding."

While Haku kept her gaze locked on both Temari and the puppet Crow she did a quick nod to the left before she stated "About one hundred yards behind us and to our left. You'll see one of the few remaining buildings in the area. That's where you'll find him."

Kin's right eyebrow arced up and with a look of absolute skepticism written over her face she inquired "And you know this how?"

A slight smile appeared on Haku's face and as she directed Kin's attention to Crow's missing arm she said "Let's just say that he was quite vocal about my removal of that arm."

Her smile was replicated on Kin's face as they both realized the implications of such attachments to such inanimate objects before Kin said "So the little puppeteer is fond of his toy huh? That could be useful…"

Her statement was cut short however when Crow suddenly charged forward and moved to strike the pair of kunochi with his poison tipped blade. But before the blade could even get close to either one of them, they both jumped out of the way while at the same time Haku threw half a dozen senbon at the puppet.

As some of the senbon bounced off of Crow's wooden structure Temari took this opportunity to move in and as she swung her open battle fan at the two kunochi she said "Ninpo: Kamaitachi!" (Ninja arts: Cutting Whirlwind)

The chakra laced wind that spewed forth at incredible speed, but even at this amazing speed Haku was faster, for she managed to focus her chakra and complete a quick series of hand-seals all before the wind was even halfway to her. With the extra time Haku placed her hands on the ground and said "Hyouton: Koori Hei!" (Ice style: Ice Wall)

An ice wall about three feet wide and six feet tall burst forth through the ground just as the wind slammed into its icy cold surface. The sheer force of the wind proved to be so strong that it actually caused the ice to crack. When Haku noticed this she knew it could only take a few more hits like that before it shattered. So she turned to Kin and said "This is your chance. Go!"

Understanding the situation Kin nodded her head before she turned around and bolted for the building that Kankuro was on.

Once the wind died down Temari got a smirk on her face as she got a good look at the cracks and noticed small beads of water rundown the ice wall. Prepping her fan for another attack she decided to rub in Haku's dire situation. "I see that your ability to create ice is limited in this hot weather. Looks like just one more blow from my fan and I'll turn that ice wall of yours into crushed ice. Ninpo: Kamaitachi!"

'_Now!' _Haku thought to herself as she came out from behind her wall just as Temari drew her fan back to strike. Haku then dashed forward and crossed the distance between herself and Temari so fast that it couldn't even be registered by the human eye. The moment she was in front of her opponent she used both of her hands to grab a hold of the fan right above Temari's own hands. As Temari's eyes widened in shock Haku twisted her body and delivered a vicious sidekick to the stomach.

The force of the blow was so great that it not only caused Temari to get the wind knocked out of her but she also lost her grip on the fan before she slammed into the ground. As she gasped for breath Haku closed the fan, focused her chakra and froze the fan like she had done to the puppet's arm earlier. Once the fan was completely frozen she snapped the brittle material in half, and as she tossed the two pieces aside she coldly said "You rely too much on that fan of yours. Now learn the price of your mistake."

Haku then used her great speed to get right up next to Temari before she delivered a powerful roundhouse kick to her torso. As soon as she stumbled backwards Haku appeared right in front of her and landed a right cross to her chin. With Temari stunned from the blow Haku took the opportunity to focus her chakra once again to bring forth as much water from the ground as she could. She then flew through a series of hand-seals and with a voice of ice said "It's time to finish this. Hyouton: Makyou Hyoushou!" (Ice Style: Demonic Ice Crystal Mirrors)

The water that now saturated the ground all around Temari began to rise up and form into long flat mirrors of ice that created a 360 degree dome around their target. By the time Temari had managed to recover her balance and with her right arm clutching her stomach in pain she took in a quick scan of her surroundings. After she got a good look around her eyes widened in shock as she noticed that all the mirrors were fully intact with no sign that the sun had any effect on them. Totally baffled by this turn of events she turned towards Haku and shouted "Impossible? Your other jutsu was melting under this heat! You shouldn't be able to do this with the sun bearing down on us like this!"

Completely ignoring the ramblings of her opponent Haku waited until all the ice mirrors had fully formed and once that happened she stepped into one and her image suddenly appeared in all the mirrors. She then looked at Temari and finally said what was on her mind. "That was just to lull you into a false sense of security. Now I'll give you this one chance. Surrender now and no harm will come to you. But if you resist…"

Temari reached down to her kunai holder and pulled out several kunai and with a defiant look in her eyes said "If you think that just because you tricked me and got rid of my fan that I'd surrender… You're sorely mistaken."

"So you've made your decision..." sighed Haku as she shook her head before she took out several pairs of senbon and when she got ready to strike her voice became as cold as ice as she deadpanned "Then you leave me no choice."

**(With Kin)**

As Kin approached the decrepit building that was pointed out earlier she started to scan the area and hoped to find any indication as to where the puppet user was hiding. But when she was within a few feet from the building where the puppet user Kankuro was said to be she stopped dead in her tracks as she realized that any smart shinobi would have lined the area with traps. So as she scanned her surroundings she noticed that the area was cluttered with huge chunks of rubble that had fallen from all the damaged buildings. The amount of debris that was in the area made it impossible to see any visible indications of any kind of traps that might have been laid.

So in an effort to sweep the soon to be battlefield the former Oto nin pulled out several senbon with the metal wire and bells attached. Her plan was a simple strategy, throw the senbon at certain locations through the area and then use them as a form of sonar to test for any traps. If she was really lucky maybe she'd even be able set off any rigged with some kind of sound detection. Using her chakra to amplify her hearing in order to detect the smallest sound possible set to work. With a steady and accurate throw she sent several of the bell laden senbon flying. The moment they were secure in the soft dirt, she tugged on the string and produced a visible sound wave. Much to Kin's great relief and satisfaction nothing exploded.

When she detected nothing out of the ordinary, she double checked anyway just to make sure that she didn't miss anything. After she was certain that there weren't any traps in the immediate area, she cautiously moved forward her eyes shifting to every dark shadow that lie beyond the broken windows, and with her hearing heightened to the max she listened for any noises that were out of the ordinary as she entered the building.

Once inside day turned to night, the room was covered in darkness with only a few points of light that came through some cracks in the outer walls, even the broken windows let in very little due to such obstacles as chunks of the ceiling that had fallen to the floor, the only real source of light came from the doorway Kin had just passed through. As Kin preceded further inside, her ears picked up the sound of wood knocking against each other that came from directly behind her. In the blink of an eye she turned around only to find out that… nothing was there. Adrenaline started to pump into her system and her breathing came in short staggering breaths as her eyes darted from shadow to shadow looking for any indication as to the source of the noise.

With no sign of what made it Kin started to get a bad feeling about this and mentally scolded herself for probably walking right into a trap. Without making any sudden movements Kin slowly drifted her right hand her kunai pouch, and once her fingers brushed up against the button she unlatching it. When she got a firm grip on the kunai handle she felt a little more at ease at now being at least armed for whatever awaited her. After taking a deep breath to calm her nerves she strained her hearing hoping to get any kind of indication as to where her stalker was, and that's when she the sound of wood behind her once again. Reacting on instinct she pulled out the Kunai and held it at the ready as she turned, but much to her frustration when she came to bare on her target it wasn't there.

'_That bastard! He's toying with me.' _Kin thought to herself as she ever so slowly took a cautious step backwards and started to head towards the entrance her eyes narrowed and focused in an effort to pierce the darkness. Then just as she was about to exit the building she noticed something out of the corner of her eye. Snapping her head in that direction she noticed Kankuro's puppet Crow lunge out of the darkness, its head and arms, of which the right arm was severed at the elbow, were clearly visible while the black cloak it wore shrouded the rest of its body in the darkness.

The swiftness and precision of Crow's attack would have proved fatal if not for all the years of Orochimaru's training Kin had gone through. Her muscles tightened and constricted as she leaned back, like she was going under a limbo pole, just as Crow's blade passed mere inches above her stomach and skimmed the rest of it way up her chest before it grazed the metal surface of her headband.

Once Crow's blade was safely away from her Kin used her fantastic muscle control to pull herself upright and reacting solely on reflex she rapidly twisted her upper body, and prepared to hurl her kunai at the puppet's head. But much to her amazement and dismay Crow had already turned around and continued to press its attack.

Metal clanged against metal as Kin just barely managed to alter the direction of her kunai and brought it up just in time to block the downward slash of Crow's blade. Even with Kin's other hand bracing the kunai the sheer power of Crow's slash brought Kin to her knees before the puppet quickly shifted its weight and blasted the former Oto nin in the gut with a powerful side kick which knocked her even further into the darkened building.

Pain coursed through every inch of her body as she slammed up against the furthermost wall from the entrance door and as her body slumped to the ground she discreetly reached into her pouch and pulled out several small balls made of glass, one of which was filled with a dark green liquid.

Shifting the dark green glass ball into her right hand she did a quick scan of the darkened room in hopes of finding a means of escape from dire position. Then out of the corner of her eye she noticed a small point of light off to her right. Upon further inspection Kin realized that the small point of light was actually an open window at the top of a staircase. This discovery of a possible escape route came just in time for Crow wasted no time and moved in for the kill.

Kin's keen hearing picked up the movement of wood, she instantly darted her eyes back in Crow's direction and as it closed the gap between them she tightened her grip on the green ball in her right hand and prepared to strike. Then when it was close enough to see the gloss in its dull lifeless eyes but not close enough to strike with its blade she struck. With great speed and precision she hurled the glass ball at Crow's undamaged arm, which shattered the glass into millions of pieces on contact. As the green liquid spread out over the arm it started to bubble and hiss, and as the acid ate its way through the wooden make-up of the arm a pungent smell of rotten eggs filled the room.

When the acid ate through the last grain of wood that connected the forearm to the rest of the body she threw the remaining glass balls on the cold hard ground. The instant they shattered the chemicals in them mixed together in a way that created a large dark grey cloud that encompassed the area. Using this cover to her advantage she bolted up the staircase and made a bee-line straight for the open window.

Once outside she noticed that she was only a few feet from the top of the building. But just after she took a step forward the chunk of wall she was just standing on broke away from the wall and went crashing into the street below. _'Great… out of the frying pan and into the fire.'_ Kin thought to herself as she scanned the wall and found it full of cracks and potholes.

The condition of the building became even worse when Crow suddenly burst through with enough force to send chunks of mortar and wood flying in all directions. But before Kin had a chance to react to this, her heightened hearing picked up the sounds of gears moving inside the puppets head. Suddenly its mouth opened and a spike laced with poison popped out. Not wasting any time it lunged forward with the spike leading the way. _'Shit!'_ was the only thought that went throughKin's mind as she just barely managed to overcome her shock and lean back into a back flip in order to avoid the spike. She used the momentum of her flip to deliver a powerful double kick to Crows chest that sent the puppet flying in the other direction. But the moment she came out of her flip her eyes widened in surprise as Crow appeared behind her and in a forward lunge tried to shove the spike right through her head.

She barely avoided having her head impaled by going into a forward roll, but she didn't escape unscathed for the blade nicked the end of her long hair. But in the middle of her roll she placed a tag on the side of the building right next to Crow's feet, and once she came out of it she got to her feet and sprinted as fast as she could towards rooftop. When she was about two feet from the top the tag exploded in a massive fireball. As the wall crumbled beneath her feet the sheer force from the explosion knocked Kin up past the top of the roof. While still in the air Kin look down and saw that her tag had completely demolished the right side of the building, the interior lay bare for all to see. After she recovered from this shock she felt gravity start to pull her back down to the earth. Not wanting to feel the hard impact of the ground she managed to pull out a kunai with a rope attached, and with pinpoint accuracy she threw it down towards an area that was a lot closer, the remains of the partially destroyed rooftop.

The moment the kunai imbedded itself into the rooftop floor, Kin yanked on the rope with all her strength, and pulled herself onto the roof. When her feet touch the roof tiling, she took several ragged breaths as she wiped some dirt and plaster dust from her chin.

"Pathetic. After that little skirmish you're already tired?" inquired Kankuro and as his lips curled into a smirk he said "Heh, I see I won't even have to break a sweat to take you out."

Kin got a defiant look in her eyes and took several more ragged breaths before she snarled "Yeah…? And just how do you plan to do that, when your little toy was just blasted into a million pieces?"

"Humph. You think my Crow can be stopped so easily?" said a cocky Kankuro as he manipulated his chakra strings. Crow suddenly leap over the rooftop ledge and landed between Kankuro and Kin. Kankuro got a half smirk on his face as he added "As you can see he's still fully functional."

When she got a better look at Crow her eyes widened in surprise, for aside from a few singe marks and the damage both she and Haku had done earlier, the puppet was still in complete working order. Kin narrowed her eyes in annoyance as she thought _'Son of a bitch! I thought for sure that move would have done some kind of damage. Just what will it take to get rid of that thing?'_

"Now… I think it's time to make you pay for everything you, and that ice bitch did to my puppet." snarled Kankuro as his smirk turned into a sneer while his fingers worked their magic. This act caused the remnants of Crow's cloak, that was still draped over its body, to shred into pieces as two hidden arms revealed themselves before Kankuro had the puppet charge forward.

Kin's expression turned to one of disbelief as she muttered "Ah… shit."

**(Elsewhere)**

Dust, wood, and other forms of debris flew into the air as Gamabunta got out of the way of Gaara's latest sand attack. Naruto wiped the dust from his face and spit some sand out of his mouth before he grumbled "Alright, let's do this."

No further words needed to be exchanged as Gamabunta shifted his weight and crouched down. The sheer force release upon Gamabunta's leap into the air caused a massive amount of dust and debris back into the air that slightly covered their angle of attack. As Gamabunta drew closer Gaara instinctively gathered his chakra and moved to slash the Chief Toad with Shukaku's right arm. The moment Gamabunta saw movement he shifted his weight and brought his dagger to bear. Once it made contact with the arm he brazenly shouted "**Gamadosuzan!"**(Toad Slash)

The strength of the compact sand was just like concrete and even though Gamabunta put his full weight into the blow the dagger still slipped out of his hands the very instance he finished slicing off Shukaku's arm. As the dagger slammed into one of the abandoned buildings, completely demolishing it into a tattered pile of wood and plaster, the severed arm of Shukaku crashed right in front of Asuma and Kurenai, who had just arrived on the scene, before it dissolved into a pile of sand.

Asuma looked up at the two towering figures and once his keen mind took stock of the situation he grumbled "This is really bad. If we don't find a way to stop this soon those two could destroy the entire village."

"And just how do you suggest we do that Asuma?" interrupted Kurenai because for the life of her she couldn't figure out a single thing they could do to stop this.

Asuma took a drag from his cigarette, and deeply assessed the situation. After what seemed like an eternity for his partner Kurenai, he finally turned to face her. "Honestly, I don't have a clue. But I do know that we need to find some way to immobilize that thing A.S.A.P."

Meanwhile Gamabunta's muscles tensed as he prepared to launch his second attack but before he decided to spring into action he looked up towards Naruto and said "**Well runt if you really want to save this village. I suggest that you get ready. Because when I move in it'll be up to you to end this."**

Naruto for his part remained quiet and just looked at Gaara for a moment. Even though Gaara had threatened the people he cared about and destroyed the only safe haven he had here, Naruto couldn't get past how they were like two sides of the same coin. This thought also caused him to wonder if he would have turned out to be a cold-blooded killer if he hadn't found acceptance and love from Tsunade and the others. If he could have turned out like Gaara then maybe, just maybe with a little acceptance Gaara might change as well, and with that line of thought floating around in his head he decided to try just one more time. "Listen to me Gaara. This is your chance to prove you're not the monster everyone's made you out to be. Just surrender and put an end to this pointless battle."

Gaara didn't respond immediately instead he just stared down at his severed arm lost in thought _'Where…? Where does he get his strength from?'_

**(Flashback- Chunin Exam Tower; During the 2****nd**** Exam)**

The sadness and sorrow reflected in Naruto's eyes didn't bother Gaara at all. For he was used to seeing such emotions in his prey, but there was one thing reflected in Naruto's eyes that did bother him, pity. It was this emotion that got Gaara to respond "Is that pity? Feeling sympathy for someone is a weakness. You should love only yourself and fight only for yourself. That is the reason for my existence, I live only to kill all other humans other than myself. For as long as there are people for me to kill… then I will not cease to exist."

An aura of sadness washed over Naruto, for he knew that, that line of thinking is a cold and lonely path. In an effort to convince Gaara to go down a different path he said "So that's what you believe in huh? How sad, that kind of thinking will only carry you so far. If you exist only for yourself, you'll never be pushed past your limits. Protecting someone you care about, willing to sacrifice everything to make sure they're safe. That's the only way to truly become strong."

**(End Flashback)**

'_Protecting those you care about? No…, no, no, no…' _Gaara thought to himself as a sharp pain coursed through his temples from his inability to comprehend such a concept. As the pain subsided he got a crazed look in his eye before he glared over at Naruto and screamed "I will not lose to someone like you!"

Gaara focused all of his remaining easily accessible chakra before he sunk back into Shukaku's head. Once Gaara's body was completely submerged again Shukaku took in a large breath of air and as it slammed its left fist into its stomach he shouted "Fuuton: Renkuudan**!**" (Wind Style: Drilling Air Projectile)

Acting purely on self-preservation Gamabunta gathered his chakra as fast as he could and formed the necessary hand-seals before he said "**Suiton: Teppoudama**!" (Water Style: Bullet)

As the two attacks hurled themselves toward each other, the sheer power of the two attacks shook Asuma to his core. Thinking about the safety of his team first and foremost, he turned to face them and shouted "Take cover!"

Asuma's warning gave his team just enough time to seek shelter before the two attacks collided in midair. The impact caused the wind to disperse the water in such a way that it seemed like a heavy rain had befallen the entire area.

The water droplets rained down on Naruto, matting his hair against his forehead, and as the water ran down his face he glared at Gaara with the intensity of a thousand suns. "Then you leave me no choice." He quickly formed a cross shaped seal and channeled his chakra in preparation for what he planned to do next. "Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!"

Two clones popped into existence, one on either side of the original Naruto, and while he started to gather the chakra in the palm of his hand the clones went to work manipulating said chakra. The gathered energy started too pick up speed as it violently rotated in its confined space. When the speed reached its apex four rotating blades of wind jutted out from the blue chakra sphere. Then to everyone's surprise the blades themselves grew several inches in size as their rotation began to pick up speed and appeared to become unstable.

But just as it seemed the orb would break down it suddenly doubled in size and sent a pulse of power out that even the most novice of Genin could feel. Asuma's mouth went agape and as his cigarette dropped to the ground he muttered "No way… there's just no way… I've only heard stories."

This little outburst completely baffled Kurenai, for she had never even heard of such a jutsu before. So she turned towards him and asked "What are you talking about? You know what that thing is?"

"Naruto… he…he" He muttered to himself as he remained transfixed on the spiraling jutsu, and once he recovered from his initial shock and regained his wits, he finished his statement. "…he's somehow managed to merge his wind element with the Rasengan. If it's as powerful as Yondaime-sama believed it could be. This fight is already over."

Meanwhile Naruto had just finished pouring all of his easily accessible chakra into the spiraling blue orb. Its blades rotated around the equator of the orb, and picked up even more speed as they completed each rotation. With its power growing by the second he fixed his gaze upon Gaara, and exuded an aura of confidence and determination that made Gamabunta feel as though the Yondaime himself was standing atop his head once again. The silence that had encompassed the fight was finally broken when Naruto calmly said "Let's finish this!"

"**Sure thing kid."** replied Gamabunta as the muscles in his hind legs tightened and constricted before he used all his might to leap towards Gaara's Shukaku form, which resulted in tons of debris flying into the air.

However while Gamabunta was in the air Gaara launched his counter attack and lashed out with Shukaku's remaining arm. Gamabunta managed to shift his weight in midair and get under the strike, making the sand miss Naruto's spiky hair by my mere inches. The moment he landed every ounce of chakra he could muster was channeled into his webbed hands, which allowed him to get a grip on his opponent with strength far beyond any normal amphibian. Gaara's struggles to free himself weakened Gamabunta's control over his chakra, and as Bunta shifted his beady eyes towards the top of his head he grunted "**Now!**"

Naruto glanced at his two clones and nodded, but the moment they leapt off of the mighty Chief Toad's head Gaara's struggles finally broke Gamabunta's concentration , and with amazing speed, that Naruo had not anticipated, snatched one of the clones out of the air. Then before anyone had a chance to react Gaara crushed the clone within the palm of his sandy hand.

As the smoke evaporated Gaara manipulated his chakra that was saturated within the sand and launched his second strike. But this time Naruto and his last remaining clone were ready of it. The clone, who was already between Naruto and Gaara, gathered the last of his available chakra supply, and focused it into the palm of his right hand. The spiraling blue orb formed quickly and just in nick of time too. For at this very instant the sand had reached it intended target and was about to wrap the clone in a coffin of sand. Then with a speed that even Naruto hadn't anticipated, the clone thrust his attack forward and screamed "Rasengan!"

The moment the two attacks collided the spiraling energy of the Rasengan caused the sand to swirl and twist before it spewed out in all directions. As the clone's attack cleared a path for his creator, a slack jawed Asuma looked on in stunned silence. It was Kurenai who vocalized what all the Konoha shinobi were thinking. "Naruto has the skill and control necessary to perform all those high ranked jutsu's simultaneously? That just doesn't seem possible. No kid his age should have the skill to pull off all those jutsu's at once."

"You're forgetting that he was trained by Tsunade-sama for nearly a decade. Who knows what training methods she used over that time to get to this result." interjected Asuma, who had pulled out a cigarette in an effort to calm his nerves. As he lit it up his eyes remained locked on the clone as it tore through the sand of Gaara's attack.

Grains of sand flew in all directions as the clone continued to pure all of his chakra into his attack and clear a path for Naruto, who was moving closer by the second. Then as the Rasengan drew the last vestiges of the accessible chakra from the clone, it's spiraling energy quickly faded and died.

Without the power of the Rasengan to blow the sand away it quickly engulfed the clone, leaving just a small portion of his head revealed, and began to constrict.. With the pressure increasing the clone managed to turn back towards Naruto and slightly nod his head, sending a silent signal to his creator to prepare for what's to come next. When Naruto returned the nod the clone began to build up the last of its remaining chakra, and once the build-up was at maximum the clone looked back at Gaara and muttered "Bunshin Bakuha!" (Shadow Clone Explosion)

The sudden release of all that chakra created a massive explosion, and while it wasn't as powerful as it normally would be, due to the lack of chakra, it was still powerful enough to blow Gaara's Shukaku forms left arm off, which sent sand flying in all directions, like exploding fireworks. With the sand blocking their view the Konoha shinobi started to wonder what happened to Naruto. As if to answer those questions Naruto burst forth from the cloud of sand and when he brought his attack to bare he shouted "Rasen Shuriken!" (Spiral Shuriken)

The swirling blades of wind tore into the area just below the jugular of Gaara's Shukaku form. As the attack the dug deeper into the sand the sheer backlash of the wind itself tore nicks and gashed in his clothing which in turn ripped through his flesh like a hot knife through butter. The pain generated from this backlash coupled with how unstable the attack had become soon became too much even for Naruto to bear. The moment his controlled slipped the attack exploded in a swirl of wind and chakra, that hurled Naruto backwards while at the same time blanketing the area in dust and sand.

**(With Kin)**

The sounds of a fierce battle reverberated throughout the rooftop before Kin was suddenly slammed up against the very edge, almost toppling over the side in the process. But she quickly recovered and managed to pull out two kunai from her Kunai pouch, and crossed them over her head just in time to block the downward slash of Crow's poison tipped blade. The sheer force of the impact alone made her wince in pain. However the puppet didn't let up there it balled one of its free fists and delivered a right cross directly to Kin's chin. The blow landed with enough force to jerk Kin's head violently to the side before she smacked against the cold hard concrete floor of the rooftop, leaving her a little dazed.

Before she could clear the cobwebs from her head however all of them, Kin, Kankuro and even his puppet Crow, were pelted with a massive amount of sand. As Kankuro brought his forearms up to protect his face, he turned in the direction the sand came from and muttered "What the hell…?"

When he was finally able to get a clear view of the area that the sand had come from and saw the giant dust cloud his expression immediately turned to one of shock and disbelief as he vocalized the only thought running through his head. "Impossible! No one can defeat Gaara when he's in that form!"

Meanwhile the harsh and gruff texture of the sand pelting against her face was enough to clear the cobwebs cluttering Kin's mind. The first thing she saw was that Kankuro had turned his back to her and was distracted by something. Not one to pass up an opportunity like this she gathered what chakra she could as she formed the necessary hand-seals. "Hyoushi Kusari no Jutsu." (Binding Chains Technique)

Chains suddenly burst forth from the concrete roof tiling and proceeded to wrap around Kankuro's arms, legs, waist and neck, effectively immobilizing the Suna Shinobi. The tightening of the chains around his limbs finally brought Kankuro's attention back to the situation at hand, and when he noticed his immobility he tugged on the chains as he snapped "Where the hell did this come from ?"

Kankuro first knee-jerk reaction was to use his physical strength to tug and pull on the chains in an effort to free himself. But when it became obvious that his strength couldn't even budge the chains he moved on to his next course of action. Concentrating his chakra as best he could Kankuro shot forth his chakra strings and reattached them to his puppet, Crow, but when his puppet wouldn't even respond to his commands a look of realization crossed his face before he muttered "Is this…Genjutsu?"

"In a manner of speaking it is." replied Kin as she took this opportunity to dust herself off and then got back on her feet. Once there she pulled out a kunai from her pouch and began to twirl it on her index finger. "You see I've been given the ability that allows me to physically harm you with Genjutsu. Meaning if I wanted to…" Kin made a quick gesture with her left hand and the chain links wrapped around Kankuro's neck began to tighten. "…I could end this right now."

After a few seconds the chains around his neck loosed and aloud oxygen to flow into his lungs once again. After hacking and coughing a couple of times Kankuro narrowed his eyes and bared his teeth as he growled "You bitch! When I get out of this I'm going to rip you limb from limb!"

"Oh really? Well I bet that by the time I'm finished with you, you'll tell me anything I want to know." retorted Kin as she stopped twirling the kunai and got a firm grip on the handle. But before she could take it any further the already weakened rooftop around Kankuro finally buckled under the weight of the recently added sand. The concrete cracked and crumbled so fast that all Kin had time to do was watch as Kankuro fell into the darkness below.

Kin squatted down near the edge of the hole, taking extra care not to fall in, to see if she could see what happened to her quarry. But when it became apparent that she'd never be able to see anything in that blackened hole, the frustration of losing a captive that quickly finally got the best of her and she let out an aggravated sigh before she slammed her fist into the concrete. "Damn it! How… how could I let him get away so easily?"

**(With Haku)**

The cold and brisk air gave no comfort to Temari as she was bombarded with another barrage of senbon coming from all directions. Temari did every evasive maneuver she could think of, she bobbed, weaved, and even did a couple of somersaults to avoid the onslaught. But there were just too many and as the sharp projectiles nicked and cut her flesh she clinched her teeth from the pain that coursed through her body. Then when one of the senbon cut through the flesh on the back of both her legs which caused her to drop to her knees in agony.

When Haku saw that her opponent had finally reached her limit she decided to end this and readied herself for the final attack. But before she had the chance to launch her final assault sand pelted against the outside of her ice mirror dome. The amount of sand coupled with the sheer force at which it landed lead her to one inescapable conclusion… Naruto must have the one jutsu he shouldn't have.

'_Naruto-kun…' _she thought to herself as she peered off into the distance at the giant dust cloud. It didn't even take her half a second to decide what she had to do next, and as a resolve as strong as steel reflected in her eyes she turned back towards the still kneeling Temari before she muttered "I need to finish this now."

In an unexpected move Haku stepped out of one of her ice mirrors and with a quick motion of her right hand she canceled her jutsu. Once all of the mirrors had evaporated she did a series of hand-seals and gathered the necessary chakra needed for her next move. With the chakra gathered she formed the final hand-seal before she slammed her hands on the ground as she said "Hyouton: Koori Mizuumi Hitoya!" (Ice Style: Ice Lake Prison)

Ice shot out from both of her hands and ran along the ground three hundred and sixty degrees around Haku. When it reached Temari, the ice came up over her calves which sent a shiver up her spine as it completely encompassed her lower legs leaving her immobile and trapped .

With Temari secured in place Haku turned back towards the massive dust cloud and as she disappeared in a whirlwind of leaves her voice could be heard on the wind. "Hang on Naruto-kun, I'll be there soon."

**(Somewhere in Konoha)**

In a desolate and abandoned part of the village the sounds of war are far off but if you listened closely you could hear the sounds getting closing minute by minute. It was this very area that Itachi and Kisame they jumped from rooftop to rooftop on their way out of the village. When Itachi landed on the next rooftop he suddenly felt a huge chakra surge coming from the east. He turned his head just in time to see that a massive dust cloud had enveloped that area. Seeing this as an opportunity to slip out undetected he glanced over his shoulder at Kisame and pointed to the east. "Change in plans. That dust cloud will cover our withdrawal."

Understanding but not really caring about the logic behind this change Kisame merely shrugged his shoulders to signal Itachi that he understood. Then without even skipping a beat they altered their course and headed towards the dust laden area.

**(With Kushina)**

Silence radiated throughout the area, in fact this silence made Kushina's labored breathing all the more pronounced. As a few beads of sweat ran down her forehead her eyes darted from left to right in a desperate attempt to locate Minato. That search proved futile however as Minato suddenly appeared behind Kushina in a bright yellow flash. But Kushina was prepared for this and when he went to strike her, she brought her right forearm up and was able to block his kick. She then surprised Minato as she disappeared in a blue flash and reappeared about five feet behind him.

When Minato turned to face her, Kushina pulled out several kunai and hurled them at her target. Minato waited until the last moment before he strafed to his left to avoid the kunai. But before the fight could progress any further a heavy rain of sand came pouring down upon them.

This unusual weather pattern completely baffled Minato as he examined the sand he had caught in the palm of his hand. "Sand? It's raining sand? Just what the hell is going on here?"

Kushina however instantly knew what must have happened and a frustrating mixture of anger and worry flowed through her as she put her hand out to catch some of the sand. Once she had a pile of it in the palm of her hand the frustration finally reach a boiling point, and as she clinched her fist around the sand she snapped "Damn it Naruto-kun! I thought I told not to use that jutsu no matter what!"

This little outburst caught Minato's attention and as he firmly focused his eyes on Kushina he could instantly tell that she knew what was going on. So in an effort to get the answers he sought he asked "What are you talking about? What kind of jutsu could cause this to happen?"

"Rasen Shuriken." said a female voice from behind him. Minato quickly swiveled around on the ball of his foot and saw Tsunade standing there with a grim look on her face. From her expression he could tell something was wrong but before he could ask her about it she continued "It's a jutsu that combines the wind element with the Rasengan to create an extremely powerful attack. Naru-chan must have used it against that Suna shinobi Gaara."

As this information sunk in he was astonished to say the least, Naruto had somehow managed to accomplish something that he was never able to master and thought it to be nearly impossible. This astonishment was vocalized quit loudly. "What? You mean to tell me that Naruto has actually merged the Rasengan with the wind element?"

Kushina's eyes widened slightly in surprise, but not from the outburst a few moments ago, what she noticed was far more useful as well as unexpected. For it appeared that Minato had focused almost all of his attention on Tsunade, and the statement she had just made. From her perspective it seemed like Minato wanted her to attack from behind. Well aware that this could be some kind of trap. She decided to take the risk and attack anyway. After she did a quick series of hand-seals she waited until he turned a fraction of an inch more towards Tsunade which told her that it was the perfect moment to strike. _'Now…'_she thought to herself as she formed the final hand-seal and said "Ninpo: Kanashibari no Jutsu." (Ninja Art: Temporary Body Paralysis Technique)

When Minato suddenly felt his muscles tense and tighten up he knew immediately that something was wrong. After a few moments of great exertion and effort Minato noticed that the jutsu wasn't as strong as it should have been as he finally managed to move one foot and then the other. Once he managed to turn towards Kushina a sad smile spread across his face as he said "Nice… nice try Kushina-chan. But it seems like something's wrong … doesn't it?"

'_Damn it he's right! I just don't have the chakra!'_ Kushina thought to herself as she felt the sweat run down her brow and her strength start to leave her. As her chakra reserves continued to get smaller she shifted her gaze towards Tsunade and with a desperate look in her eyes grunted "I could use a little help here!"

Tsunade for her part had already moved before Kushina's words had even left her lips, and thanks to Minato's limited mobility she easily got behind him. Once there she brought her arms around his chest and locked them together in a bear hug. As she leaned back a little to get Minato's feet of the ground he looked over his shoulder at her and simply stated "Now that both of you are keeping me immobile. How do you plan to destroy the tag within my skull?"

Tsunade's only response to this was to tightened her grip on Minato and let her lips curled into a small smirk. Completely thrown off by Tsunade's reaction he was about to question her when she suddenly shouted "Yugito now!"

When Yugito suddenly appeared beside the pair, Minato's eyes widened in surprise for he had actually forgotten that this girl was still even in the area. Then with a sickening crunch she jammed her fist right into the back of his head. She sloshed around in the soft tissue until she found the kunai, but with all the blood and organic matter on the handle it slipped from her grasp. Meanwhile Minato, who felt no pain from this intrusion into his head, just glanced back at Tsunade and let a faint smile cross his face. "Good plan Tsunade-sama." he mumbled to himself as Yugito finally got a firm grip on the kunai and yanked it out. While the blood ran down Yugito's forearm she ripped the tag off the kunai and tore it to shreds.

As the shreds of paper floated to the ground the little voice that had echoed within his head faded away while at the same time the compulsive feeling to fight those he cared about dissipated. With great effort he opened and closed his hands and looked at them as if it was the first time he had ever seen them. Then as his smile got even bigger only one thought radiated within his head. _'I'm free!'_

The change in Minato's demeanor didn't go unnoticed by Kushina. Taking a big risk she canceled her jutsu and then motioned for Tsunade to release Minato from her grip. With great reluctance Tsuande eventually released her grip and took several steps back as Kushina approached Minato. When she was only a couple of feet away she leaned in and muttered "Minato-kun are you…, you?"

Minato didn't immediately respond for his brain was still grasping the fact that he was finally free. Then after only a moment his head shot up with the biggest grin his lips could manage before he quickly grabbed Kushina by the waist and began to twirler her around like two lovers who haven't seen each other in a lone time as he said "I'm free! I'm free! I'm finally free!"

Taken by surprise Kushina first tensed at this sudden course of action but when he brought her into a loving hug and whispered thank you over and over again memories of their life together before all this happened came flooding back. She found herself melting into the hug and even returning it with even greater vigor. But when she felt no warmth coming from Minato's body the rational part of Kushina's mind finally kicked and as she broke the hug she asked the one painful question that's been rattling around in the back of her head since the tag was destroyed. "Minato-kun why… why haven't you turned to dust?"

"I don't know." Minato replied more to himself than to anyone else as he closely examined his hands for any signs of deterioration. When he found no indications that he was falling apart he closed his eyes and focused his attention on his chakra to see if there was any disruption of any kind. But after an extensive check it confused him to no end that he couldn't find anything out of the ordinary. The oddity of his situation caused him to vocalize his thoughts. "Could this be some kind side effect due to the link with the Shinagami?"

The moment those words left his lips he immediately pushed them aside and logged them away for later, for he knew that there were more important matters to attend to namely a certain Snake Sannin. "Eh… I'll worry about that later." Minato said to the girls with a light shrug of the shoulders before he closed his eyes and focused all his attention on checking to see if his secret emergency plan was still in existence after all these years. A smile formed on his face as he found one seal after another and once he found them all his eyes opened to reveal an almost menacing glint "Yes! Even after all these years the seals I placed around the village are still intact."

The glint quickly turned into a hardened gaze of determination as he looked in the direction of the Chunin Exam Stadium and stated "I think it's time for a little payback." As he focused his chakra the space around him started to twist and distort, almost like one was looking through deformed glass, as reality itself bent to his will. Then in a bright yellow flash … he was gone.

With Minato gone and no immediate threat in the area Kushina let out a sign of relief before she turned towards Tsunade to discuss their next move. "So Tsunade-sama what do you say we…"

The resounding smack resonated throughout the area shocking all present, even Sarutobi was left speechless by this action. As Kushina brought her hand up to her throbbing cheek she looked over and saw a completely angry and fuming Tsuande. This utterly shocked and confused her for she couldn't understanding what she could have done to bring about this sudden action. "What the hell…?"

Her question was soon answered when Tsunade poked her in the chest and used a tone of voice that was so harsh and so cold that even the Shinagami himself would have cowered in fear. "If you EVER hurt Naru-chan like that again… you'll learn how legendary my strength really is."

This completely blew Kushina away. "Hurt… Naruto-kun?" She muttered to herself in confusion as she tried and failed to wrap her brain around what Tsunade had just said. "What the hell are you talking about? I'd never hurt Naruto-kun! "

"Never hurt Naru-chan you say?" scoffed Tsunade as the anger continued to boil inside her and was quickly reaching critical mass due to Kushina's complete ignorance on the matter. "Well then how about when Naru-chan told us about Minato knowledge of what he would go through and his failure to do anything about it!"

Still unable to wrap her head around Tsunade's point Kushina's right eyebrow arced in confusion as she murmured "Wha…?"

"You acted like you didn't even care!" snapped Tsunade as he anger had finally boiled over and she grabbed Kushina by her vest. She then lifted Kushina off her feet and pulled her forward so that their faces were just inched apart.. "You were more concerned about Minato's emotional state then Naru-chan's!"

That one statement hit Kushina like a ton of bricks as the whole encounter flashed before her eyes. In that instant she realized just how much she needed to learn in the ways of being a mother. The sense of shame she felt for not realizing just how Naruto would take her actions was overshadowed right now by the complete inferiority she felt towards the woman standing in front of her. This inferiority rooted in the matters of motherhood was why she averted her gaze when she finally vocalized her response. "I… I didn't mean for him to take it that way. I just…, I wanted to assess the situation. So I could better protect him."

"But that still doesn't excuse you from giving Naru-chan the cold shoulder!" retorted Tsunade as her anger caused her to tighten her grip and pull Kushina even closer to her.

"I know…" Kushina muttered more to herself than Tsunade as she averted her gaze while the full impact of what she'd really done came crashing down on her and made her feel like the weight of the world rested on her shoulders. When she lifted her head again the strong vibrant warrior was gone and in her place was a weak grief stricken mother. "What else can I say other than… I'm sorry."

The look of sorrow in Kushina's eyes made Tsunade take several deep breaths to help calm herself down before she released Kushina from her grasp. As Kushina landed on her feet Tsunade rubbed the bridge of her nose in an effort to relieve her anger. "Look… I'm not the one you need to apologize too. So we'll deal with this later. Right now I'm more worried about the condition of Naru-chan."

"Now why don't we have Yu…" Tsunade started to say but when she turned and saw that Yugito was nowhere to be found. Her eyes darted left then right to see if there was any sign of her as she mutterd "Yugito?"

After a quick scan of the area to confirm that Yugito was indeed nowhere in sight her temper flared. A vein started to pulse on Tsunade's forehead as she put her hands on her hips and growled "Damn it! Where the hell did she go? She was the only one that knew Naru-chan's exact location."

"Well then I suggest that we get moving then. The longer we just stand around here the longer it will take us to find Naruto-kun… right?" interceded Kushina with a sheepish look and faint smile on her face that indicated to Tsunade that Kushina was trying to lighten the tension between them.

Tsunade returned the smile and nodded her head to indicate that this discussion was over for now before she channeled some of her chakra and leapt off in the direction of the dust cloud. As Tsunade landed on a nearby rooftop Kushina let out a deep breath she didn't realize she had been holding and let her face show the worry and regret that was deep in her heart. Then as she took off after Tsunade she sighed "Man… I really screwed up this time didn't I?"

Once both of them were gone and all appeared to be quiet Sarutobi surveyed the destroyed area that had been just a normal street just a few hours ago. He reflected on how if he had taken part in this intense battle that had just ended he most assuredly would have lost his life. Suddenly feeling his age catch up with him he grabbed the tip of his hat and grumbled "Ugh… I'm getting to old for this shit."

Next Chapter: Hokage's Wrath Part 2: The real wrath begins!


End file.
